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No Boundaries

Album: 34: In Your Wildest Dreams

Episode: 445

Lesson/Theme: The Importance of Rules

Bible Verse: Proverbs 13:1

Characters: Alex, Whit

Writer: John Fornof

Sound Designer: Jonathan Crowe

Original Air Date: May 6, 2000

Last Air Date: September 28, 2009

Description:
Oh the humanity! Alex is at Whit’s End complaining about the rules his parents give him. He feels they are overbearing, too strict, and should give him “just a little slack.” Mr. Whittaker decides that he might have just the right solution for Alex. He takes him into the Room of Consequences and sets up a scenario. In the invention, Alex is given everything he could possibly want as well as no rules whatsoever! Alex thinks this will be perfect. The first night he gets sick from eating too much candy. Then he mouths off in class and is backed up by his parents in the principal’s office. Soon thereafter, he drags his friend David along to the hardware store, where he shoplifts a couple cans of paint in order to do some “decorating.” The manager of the store almost catches them, and Alex decides that in retaliation, they should break the front store window. David thinks Alex has gone off the deep end and says they can't be friends anymore. Alex is now very angry, and he takes off in his mother’s car. After racing around town for awhile, he crashes into another vehicle. Later, he wakes up in the hospital to find his legs are paralyzed. He also learns that the people in the other car were none other than David and his mom. David’s mom made it, but David did not. At this point, Alex, overcome with the reality of the situation, begins screaming to be “let out.” Mr. Whittaker shuts down the Room of Consequences, and Alex decides that there truly are reasons for boundaries we have in our lives.

Questions:
Why is it wrong for parents to give kids everything they want? The Bible says God disciplines those he loves. What do you think this verse means? In Psalm 37, David says to delight ourselves in God and He will give us the desires of our heart. Does that mean He'll give you all the candy bars you want? A key part of this verse tells us to "delight ourselves in God". How can you do that?