This post has been brewing on my mind for quite a few weeks now and I have just been trying to bring some ideas together to make sense.
It all started over a month ago when we went to the park and there was this guy there doing exercises on the play equipment. This wasn’t really a problem, it was probably more the point that he had his shirt off. This just left me feeling really uncomfortable with the situation.
I wanted to protect my daughter from this and although I didn’t think he would hurt her, she just didn’t need to play on equipment with a half naked man around.
This thought has led me through many ideas. How much do we protect our children, and how much do we throw them to the wolves in the thought that they could be salt to the unsalty, or think that they won’t notice.
We homeschool our children so for us it is easier to manage their friendships and who they hang with and what they see. We also live 41 km (about 25 miles) from town so we can’t just get up and go when we feel like it. We usually go for church and music lessons.
We are also blessed with a few homeschooling friends that have children our childrens ages so they have some great friendships that are developing as they get older and it is so nice to see.
So it was during my morning bible reading that the scripture below sort of brought this whole post together.
Proverbs 13:20 He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed.
Do our children walk with wise men or fools. Do we allow our children to keep bad company because it is easier or too hard to manage, or maybe we don’t even realise it.
1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be deceived. ‘Bad company ruins good morals.'”
Our children are just too important to us and God to just throw them to the wolves.
My prayer is:
Lord, please lead and guide us as to who we allow our children to hang with, what we allow them to do and where we allow them to go, give us wisdom. In Jesus name, Amen.
God bless you. A woman who takes God’s given responsibility as seriously as God meant it to be instead of giving into the world’s pressures. May you inspire those around you and the next generation.
Blessings,
Thank you Deborah, sometimes I think we are maybe too way out, but it is better to be way out for God than the world. Our children are just so precious and they deserve to be protected and loved as they grow. Blessings and thanks for stopping by.
Terri,
Another great post. When we think about the fact that our children really belong to God and we are only His stewards, it is a great responsibility. We need to do our part to be good ones. I know we can’t protect them from everything, but with His help we should be doing our best.
Thanks for linking up on Mondays @ Soul Survival.
Blessings,
Donna
Thanks Donna for your encouraging comments and for hosting a great link up. Blessings
Wonderful prayer at the end. My girls are young and are at home with me every day, so friends are carefully picked by myself. In other words…my friends’ kiddos. 🙂
I should start praying now for the children that my children will go to school with some day! And that I make wise decisions around this…
Thank you Emily for your comment. We already pray for our children’s future spouses so I think that praying for the children that will go to school with your children is a great idea. Praying is sometimes the only thing we can do. Blessings
Thank you for this great reminder! Children are our gifts from God.
Thanks and Blessings to you Heaven.
Great post! So true…words to the wise ❤️
Thank you Beth for your encouraging comment. blessings to you .
Good post! It is true that our children are exposed to a lot in our every day lives. Being a mama of a little boy, I not only notice the “half naked men” but also the almost naked girls and women wherever we go.
Blessings.
Oh Marsha, you are so right, it is as hard for our little men. Thanks for stopping by and for your comment. Blessings
I use to think I was paranoid for wanting to be so close to my kids while at the park. I thought, “It’s not like someone random person would come up to my kid, snatch him/her, then start running.” Days later I saw on the news that the very same thing happened to a toddler on the playground. One of my fears came true, but it also concreted my motherly instinct to protect my children. No one else can do it for me.
I found your post at Coffee and Conversation.
Thanks a great link up Brandi, thanks for blessing me by stopping by.
Thanks Brandi for your comment and sharing your heart wtih us. God gave us the motherly instinct for a reason, let’s make sure we pay attention to it. Blessings and have a great day.
In this world it is so hard to know who is right for our children and who needs our children to be part of their lives. We can only do our best and hope that we are helping those we were meant to help and protecting our babies from the one’s that are not ours to assist. Such a fine line.
You are right Nikki, there is so much we need to be watching. Thank God He is in control. Blessings
oh yes! Lord, let us parent wisely. and thank You for filling our weaknesses! Bless our children! Protect them! Preserve them! Amen.
Thanks for that great prayer Lisa, exactly right. Blessings to you and your family.
It is important that we do what we think is right for our children and if that means not putting them in harms way then we have that right. Thank you for sharing 🙂 Visiting from #fellowshipFriday
Sharon you are so right, thanks for sharing your heart and for taking the time to comment. Blessings
I struggle with this quite a bit because I’m trying to walk the fine line of not sheltering our kids yet protecting them. They are growing up very differently than most since my husband and I are foster parents and so three are biological and one is foster. This creates a very interesting dynamic because the things that we talk about are very atypical and we have to navigate a lot of really hard and painful issues that go along with the situations foster kids come from. Our kids know very limited information, but enough to understand how and why this isn’t the way things are supposed to be and that we are called to love anyway while trying to improve things through Christ. I was so scared at first since I didn’t want to hurt our kids doing this, but it has been so humbling to see how they are the most compassionate and giving people. Two of them have told me they want to do this when they are grown. They also see how only Christ can really redeem a situation. I pray every day for wisdom to navigate this. Thanks for sharing.
-Sara, uncommongrace.net
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your heart with us. What a wonderful thing to take on a foster child and what a great experience and blessing for you and your children and your foster child. I can imagine it isn’t always easy but I love that you are trying to improve things through Christ. What a great thing that your children are so compassionate and giving, it can only be good. Blessings to you and your lovely family.
I loved this post! This is such an important topic and point… and yet, many times we are said to be “not trusting God” or “overprotecting” our children… when we try to protect our children the way God wants us to do. Thank you for a great post.
Thank you so much for your encouraging comment, I am sure people think we are overprotective but we want to be there for them when they experience things and then be able to talk our way through difficult situations. We just don’t want to throw them to the wolves. Thanks for stopping by. Blessings
Thank you very much for this post! I think so often parents think that it is the children’s job to choose their own friends, when in reality we should be directing them towards friendships that are good for them. I am also blessed that we have 2 family’s from our church who also homeschool and who have children the same age as mine, so we do activities together regularly and my children are building friendships with them.
Thanks for stopping by Miranda and for sharing your heart, yes like minded friends are so good to have. Blessings
Thank you for this! As a fellow homeschooling mom, I often wonder, am I being over-sensitive, over-protective?! The truth is this is my role in life right now and I need to ensure my children are exposed as much as possible to God and His promises. This is my calling and my mission.
Thanks for sharing (and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop).
Wishing you a lovely day.
xoxo
Thank you Jennifer for sharing such truth with us. Thanks for stopping by and thank you for hosting. Blessings
Sometime I wonder what God thinks? Often we find ourselves in situations that are not in their best interest! You are certainly covering all the bases when it comes to your kids! I am often appalled at what I see going on in the public spaces! I tune to a radio program to listen for a cash winning word several times a day, when I can and I caught part of a question that a listener asked the morning dj crew. I was stunned when they opened the phone lines and asked listeners what they thought. The person said they had a good marriage but wanted just to have a fling! Oh My Goodness, I was stunned how many people, including two of the three djs were thinking there was not a thing wrong with wanting that. When our former president Clinton insulted our nation with his affairs and inappropriate behavior a woman I have known for a long time and considered a good friend said “No biggie, all men do it!” Stunned me! I gave her an earful! My father worked hard while my mother raised the five kids. My father was decent, kind, ethical, moral and humble! I was furious that she had the nerve to spit that out of her mouth! My husband is very much like my late father. I find too many Christians want to bury their head in the sand! I am not one of them! My hubby says our world, especially the young are getting numb to what goes on around them and we constantly remind our children to always be on their guard and show good moral character as well as first of all, be in the image of Christ! Thank you again for letting me share my thoughts here.
Oh Anne, I so agree with you and my husband is definitely like your father and your husband. He is kind, decent and very moral and it is not true that “all men do it”.
Do you know how to boil a frog?? Basically you put the frog in a saucepan of cold water and put it on the hot plate. The frog is used to the cold water and as it slowly warms he gets accustomed to it until he is eventually boiling. This is what people are like in today’s world. There is so much that just slips in and we let our children get involved for whatever reason and then it just worse and worse until their morals and values are just gone. We care far to much for our children to let this happen and we need to be constantly on guard and sometimes it is necessary to prevent or stop friendships and this is hard but really worth it in the long run. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us, there is so much we can pray for, both for our family and our society. Blessings Anne.
Such wisdom you’re sharing – I’m with you…I’d rather protect my kids, help them cultivate healthy friendships with good friends rather than let them go and leave them for the wolves. Thank you for sharing with us at Grace & Truth!
Tanks Rebekah for taking the time to stop by and comment, you have really encouraged me. It is wonderful to hear from like minded people. Blessings