Our Highest Calling
Over the past few days our timelines and social media accounts have been completely saturated with some of the most disturbing information I can recall. From videos being hacked in order to give "suicide tips" to our preschoolers, to our children's favorite cartoons being distorted in to vile, disgusting themes and, even to the "Momo" challenge it's been difficult to digest. In the past we've dealt with Slender Man and several other horrific challenge type situations that have hurt so many. If it wasn't clear before, with everything else we've seen, heard, read, and experienced, it is most definitely clear as day now: our children, and our very young children at that, are specifically being targeted.
I don't know if there's ever been a time, at least in the years I've interacted with children and the years I've been a parent, when it has been more vital and a literal matter of life and death to have an open and honest line of communication with our children than it is right now. I understand, this relationship, it's a hard one to create. Too far one way and they don't trust us/won't tell us anything and are affraid of our reactions. Too far the other way and we make ourselves much too much their friend at a time when they most desperately need us to be their parent.
But, I beg of you, if you have children, find the middle ground. Find a way to let them be open and honest with you without fearing repercussions. Make them know that they can trust you, not only to react with grace in so many situations, but also to know that you will protect them at ant cost. Never be afraid to let them know how deeply you love them, how grateful you are to be their parent. When they are secure in our love, the are also secure in their ability to rely and lean on us.
I wish I could say I've mastered this. There are many times that I do not react with any grace at all. I struggle deeply with anxiety and it affects me much different than many others I know. It clouds my thinking more often that not when I'm placed in high stakes situations. But God! Holy God is working through me and teaching me trust and grace as I become more and more secure in HIS unconditional love for me. And in turn I am teaching these lessons to my children. We are very close to them knowing that they can speak to me on absolutely any matter at all and I will be able to have a calm, rational, grace-filled conversation with them. That trust they are building with me is why my 6-year-old was able to tell me what she saw on YouTube Kids without being afraid. She knew that not only would I be able to talk to her about the situation, but that I would protect her from seeing anything further.
I am absolutely thanking God that what my child saw was a thumbnail for a video, not the actual video, and that she did not click the link. I am thanking Abba that I started early teaching my children what we watch and what is not appropriate. I am more grateful than I can excited that both of my big girls have given their hearts to Jesus and their little spirits are sensitive to what's around them. I'm ridiculously glad that my daughter want already watching videos on auto play where the clipwould have started right up and assaulted her before she even realized what was happening.
I am already very vigilant about what my girls are allowed to watch, play, and hear. I have banned things that other Christians don't see a problem with. Then again, I also let things slide that another group of Christians would completely condemn. I probably keep my babies in more of a bubble than a lot of people think is necessary. And yet I allow them freedoms that some would label me crazy for...
I don't have this mom thing, this wife thing, or even this Christian thing all figured out yet. But I know this. These babies, these precious girls, were entrusted to me and it is my job, my calling, and my privilege to protect them at all costs. Part of that protection is absolutely going to have to come in the form of helping them to trust me with their whole heart just as they and I trust our Heavenly Father with our whole hearts... And just as that trust of God comes through communication, so will my children's trust in me.
The enemy wants to destroy our babies where they stand. He wants to rid himself of their threat to his kingdom before they actually get a chance to make a difference. He is targeting an entire generation of children who could grow up into powerhouses for God's kingdom. In essence, he is terrified of our children growing into their full potential. We have to fight for them. We have to protect their innocence and their very lives. We cannot stand idly by and watch them be wiped out before our very eyes. We can not let them win.
Talk to your children. Build their trust in you and in their Heavenly Father. Love them fiercely and let them see you loving God. Arm and prepare them... Protect them like its your highest calling, because essentially, as a parent, it is... And it is a calling we absolutely cannot take lightly.
I don't know if there's ever been a time, at least in the years I've interacted with children and the years I've been a parent, when it has been more vital and a literal matter of life and death to have an open and honest line of communication with our children than it is right now. I understand, this relationship, it's a hard one to create. Too far one way and they don't trust us/won't tell us anything and are affraid of our reactions. Too far the other way and we make ourselves much too much their friend at a time when they most desperately need us to be their parent.
But, I beg of you, if you have children, find the middle ground. Find a way to let them be open and honest with you without fearing repercussions. Make them know that they can trust you, not only to react with grace in so many situations, but also to know that you will protect them at ant cost. Never be afraid to let them know how deeply you love them, how grateful you are to be their parent. When they are secure in our love, the are also secure in their ability to rely and lean on us.
I wish I could say I've mastered this. There are many times that I do not react with any grace at all. I struggle deeply with anxiety and it affects me much different than many others I know. It clouds my thinking more often that not when I'm placed in high stakes situations. But God! Holy God is working through me and teaching me trust and grace as I become more and more secure in HIS unconditional love for me. And in turn I am teaching these lessons to my children. We are very close to them knowing that they can speak to me on absolutely any matter at all and I will be able to have a calm, rational, grace-filled conversation with them. That trust they are building with me is why my 6-year-old was able to tell me what she saw on YouTube Kids without being afraid. She knew that not only would I be able to talk to her about the situation, but that I would protect her from seeing anything further.
I am absolutely thanking God that what my child saw was a thumbnail for a video, not the actual video, and that she did not click the link. I am thanking Abba that I started early teaching my children what we watch and what is not appropriate. I am more grateful than I can excited that both of my big girls have given their hearts to Jesus and their little spirits are sensitive to what's around them. I'm ridiculously glad that my daughter want already watching videos on auto play where the clipwould have started right up and assaulted her before she even realized what was happening.
I am already very vigilant about what my girls are allowed to watch, play, and hear. I have banned things that other Christians don't see a problem with. Then again, I also let things slide that another group of Christians would completely condemn. I probably keep my babies in more of a bubble than a lot of people think is necessary. And yet I allow them freedoms that some would label me crazy for...
I don't have this mom thing, this wife thing, or even this Christian thing all figured out yet. But I know this. These babies, these precious girls, were entrusted to me and it is my job, my calling, and my privilege to protect them at all costs. Part of that protection is absolutely going to have to come in the form of helping them to trust me with their whole heart just as they and I trust our Heavenly Father with our whole hearts... And just as that trust of God comes through communication, so will my children's trust in me.
The enemy wants to destroy our babies where they stand. He wants to rid himself of their threat to his kingdom before they actually get a chance to make a difference. He is targeting an entire generation of children who could grow up into powerhouses for God's kingdom. In essence, he is terrified of our children growing into their full potential. We have to fight for them. We have to protect their innocence and their very lives. We cannot stand idly by and watch them be wiped out before our very eyes. We can not let them win.
Talk to your children. Build their trust in you and in their Heavenly Father. Love them fiercely and let them see you loving God. Arm and prepare them... Protect them like its your highest calling, because essentially, as a parent, it is... And it is a calling we absolutely cannot take lightly.
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