GRACE & TRUTH

Moms and Pops…

Pastor Webb Hoggard

nce, there was a time when all of life centered on the home. The Industrial Revolution brought unparalleled advances into the world, and more and more, we began to move out of our homes to fulfill our duties to the home.

It became simpler to work with large groups, and management of those larger groups began to treat people like digits… no longer humans. It served us well by making goods cheaper and people richer. Everyone now had the place to chase their dreams, and many chased the entrepreneur’s dream.

Such people parented me, who dreamed a dream and chased it. As they saw some of it come to pass, the big box world made it more difficult to keep what they desired. Production overcame perfection.

Soon, it was about meeting bottom lines and having enough workers to cover, but not too much that people stood around purposeless. The Information Age has taken an epic toll on the Industrial, and we are losing another symbol of a bygone era, hopefully not completely.

Today’s most destructive attack on our world is not injustice, pandemics or even war. The disintegration of the family is taking its toll. Fatherlessness in America alone is the common denominator in crime, mental health and destructive habits.

The Apostle Paul in I Corinthians tells us that, even then, there were plenty of teachers, yet not many fathers. The same people needed to keep the industrial machine alive are sick due to the lack of health provided by intact families.

As we continually attempt to become more efficient, each generation waits later to start families with all its unknowns. We, instead, focus on what seems more profitable and essential to life. Careers become the focus over the home.

Providing for the life you want is increasingly more important than life itself, and as we place home-making on the back burner and out of focus, new problems come to light creating confusion for many. The longer we wait to begin families, the smaller the impact of grandmas and granddads.

As we lose the real Moms and Pops in our lives, a noticeable wholesome factor is gone.

There are existing organizations now aimed at destroying the nuclear family. Adult Christians are deconstructing their faith given them by generations before. The further from our homes, the worse we are all together. We attempt to stand on our own and find we don’t stand for anything and can’t stand for very long.

OBring back actual moms and pops. Let’s bring back stories. Mom and Pop stores hear fishing stories and memories of what life used to be. We don’t look at real life, anymore. Instead, our children look at the glossy overedited world of YouTube and TikTok. Bring back people who didn’t chase big-paying jobs, but instead learned how to save a dollar and save everything, for that matter. My grandparents taught me a more earthy living - wisdom that had been tested and not simply downloaded. They fed me rich meals full of love and genuineness. They kept the memories of precious people alive and were not receptacles to which I could get what I wanted and get out like the big box places. Yea, I remember Mr. Bud’s store where I’d get my ten-ounce Pepsi. I also remember Ronald’s, where I could get the best grilled cheese and Sunbeam’s honeybun. Those places seem to be falling away, but those who served me will never be forgotten. It’s like Jesus who said, “They will know you by how you love.” Make sure your family knows that first.

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Emanuel Webb Hoggard is pastor at Askewville Assembly of God and a resident of Edenton. He can be reached via email at

pastorwebb@hotmail.com.