# From the Editor FROM THE EDITOR Language: en Original issue: The Heartbeat of The Remnant, Spring 2020, Number 1 Source pages: 3–4 Read article: Original PDF: Spring\-2020\-Remnant\.pdf [The Heartbeat of The Remnant, Spring 2020]() ![]() Greetings of love in the name of Jesus, our Savior, our Redeemer, and our Lord\. When our last magazine issue went out, most things in the world seemed to be continuing quite normally\. Suddenly, everything started changing with unnerving speed and uncertainty\. The next thing we knew a previously unheard\-of virus had everyone’s attention\. How our lives have changed\. *Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation –2Pe 3:3\-4\.* I had to think of this verse as Covid\-19 started upending basically all of life\. Where did the church find itself during this all? Surely, we weren’t *scoffing…* Hopefully we weren’t *walking after our own lusts…* But where were we? Maybe some of us had become lulled into the belief that things would continue according to what we understood as normal, at least for our indefinite future\. But suddenly what was once normal was gone\. Schools closed—forcing many families to oversee their children’s education at home\. Businesses closed—forcing many folks to find a way to work from home\. Libraries closed—forcing folks to read at home\. Daycare centers closed—forcing many parents to find a way for at least one of them to watch their own children at home\. All personal care facilities \(barber shops, nail parlors, etc\.\) closed—forcing many families to figure out how to take care of themselves and each other at home\. All centers of entertainment closed—forcing families to start entertaining themselves and each other at home\. More and more families were required to stay at home without the opportunity of interacting with others\. Many were the negative predictions by professionals, authorities, and the media—***Domestic Violence*** would rise, ***Child Abuse*** would escalate, ***Addictions*** would increase, and ***Mental Illness*** would become a major problem\. As I am writing this, our state of Ohio has started relaxing the “stay at home” order, yet no matter how much someone may wish or worry, the old normal has yet to be willed back into existence\. As time has passed, new normals have begun to develop\. And yes, some of the negative predictions did come to pass, yet in the middle of it all some surprises have arisen as well\. \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* Recently, I came across an interesting article1 published by CNN titled, WHY SOME KIDS ARE HAPPIER RIGHT NOW, AND OTHER UNEXPECTED EFFECTS OF QUARANTINE\. Surprisingly, this article didn’t appear to go viral nor did it seem to generate much attention in the media\. To me, this type of information should be of interest to parents and children across the whole world, yet for some reason it didn’t seem to be the type of news that the majority of the media wanted to focus on\. Information like this runs counter to the direction the world is going\. It would undermine way too much of the accepted system—daycare centers for children of working parents would go out of business; mothers would need to give up their careers and instead be stay\-at\-home moms; extra\-curricular and after school activities for all the children in any given community would no longer be needed; children being raised by the system would instead be raised by their parents; emotional and mental struggles would no longer be treated primarily with therapy and drugs, and the list could go on\. Now on to the news article\. In spite of their misgivings and apprehension about all the possible negatives of the whole family being at home together most of the time, *hundreds of families from around the United States … shared on social media and in discussion boards a sense of relief and joy* regarding the actual outcome after some time had passed\. This outcome was unexpected by most, yet according to the research of professionals, it *tracks with what we* \[they\] *know about the causes of childhood anxiety and depression today\.* This article states that according to the research ***one of the most well\-supported explanations for this rise of mental health disorders is that children have too much going on and not enough choice over what they do\.*** *It’s a function of a whole society that is overworked and time\-poor, and our kids are paying the price for it\.* This article quoted parents from across the United States, including North Carolina, Tennessee and California\. It discussed an interesting phenomenon, which was referred to as *a happiness spike*, among children during this unexpected disruption of normal hectic schedules\. Much to their surprise and appreciation, the outcome of this *happiness spike* was counter\-intuitive to what parents had fully expected would result\. According to one parent, *the whole family now eats three unrushed and healthy meals together every day*; the children *are sleeping more* and they are *having a chance to get bored and then also having time to find a solution on their own*\. Finally, since they are going through this time of uncertainty and heightened emotion together, it *has given them something to bond over*\. *Peter Gray, research professor of psychology at Boston College and author of the book FREE TO LEARN,* says that *“Suddenly kids are being able to \[be self\-directed\]\. They have time on a nice spring day to just sit outside and enjoy the sunshine\. The things that are the subject of poetry that we have been denying our children are suddenly available to them\.* He believes that *children need to develop healthily and happily—*\[have\] *time to play and explore\.* A number of things were listed which parents, psychologists, and researchers see as results of this disruption in the normal schedules for many families\. - They are *seeing more of their parents* - They have *become better behaved* - There is an *increased camaraderie among siblings\.* - They are *kinder to one another* - They are *playing more alone or with siblings* - They are *less emotionally overwhelmed* - They are *sleeping better* They talked about how children could now be children since they were no longer in the rat race of life\. They now had time to explore their world, in their way\. They had time to use their imagination and creativity\. They were no longer under the pressure of rushing from one adult\-scheduled appointment to another\. No longer were they under the pressure to achieve a certain level or performance based on their peers\. The article says that research shows that all these *small acts can give them* \[children\] *a much\-needed confidence boost\.* According to the news article, *the sense that they* \[children\] *are in control of their own lives and can handle disruptions on their own* \[is\] *a crucial element of emotional well\-being\.* And surprise of surprises, emotional struggles and mental disorders started to correct themselves\. According to one mother, her 12\-year\-old daughter who had been diagnosed with ADHD and with Autism Spectrum Disorder, began to see marked improvement after about two weeks\. The change was so pronounced that the negative behavior that had been part of this girl’s identity due to her diagnosed disorders, actually began to return to that of a normal 12\-year\-old girl\. Bottomline… *hundreds of families from around the United States* are reporting that *their children seem happier*\. \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* While we realize that this is according to secular wisdom, most of it is simple, common sense derived from unbiased observation of the facts\. Many of these conclusions are supported by the simple teaching of God’s Word, the Holy Bible\. It is interesting to me how so many in the church today want to follow in the footsteps of the world when it comes to family structure, personal development, and child rearing\. Some in the church have seemed to get to a point where they feel that God’s teaching is too simple, too old\-fashioned, or for some other reason they believe it just doesn’t work to accomplish a successful outcome\. My goal in highlighting this news article is to help us see that the world’s system isn’t all its cracked up to be\. It doesn’t produce the kind of fruit that we all are striving for\. Let’s get back to believing in the Holy Scriptures, following them in simple obedience, and believing that God’s ways will work even in our times of uncertainty\. I will close with several thoughts that I wish to leave with us all\. Within the last several weeks, I heard several thoughts that were shared by two different ministers\. Both were regarding this virus issue and the world\-wide disruption of normal schedules\. First, even though this has seemed like a major obstacle for many of us to overcome, we can be sure that this will not be the last, nor will it be the worst\. We can expect to face much more difficult situations as the end of time draws ever closer\. Second, is the thought that we should look at this as a wake\-up call to our spiritual lives\. And that there should be NO person who doesn’t allow this to bring about change in their lives\. There is NO human being that is so holy that they have no need of improvement where God is concerned\. ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ 1 https://www\.cnn\.com/2020/04/27/health/children\-mental\-health\-quarantine\-coronavirus\-wellness/index\.html