The news has reported recently in my small rural mid-western community an undressed 4-year-old walking the street alone all afternoon while dad napped, a 9-month-old near drowning in a bathtub when mom stepped out of the room, and a 10-year-old fatally shot, no details of where were the parents.

It is easy to cast blame. We all know, because of our own failures, that no parent is ever completely free from mistakes or selfishness. However, as heartbroken as I am today for these local families, I must ask all of us to consider...

Why is it so hard to protect our children?
What are we so busy doing that children's safety is not an absolute priority?
When did we become so full of ourselves, so distracted by things, and so careless with our own children who are precious gifts come to us straight from heaven? Psalm 127:3

God, please help us.
Amen,
Mimi

Parenting Blog -Begin and End with Safety

Because doting new parents are often overwhelmed with adoration of their newborns, safety is usually a top priority: safety from too much cold, too much sun, safety from bumps, from germs, from loud noises and on and on. Usually, the STATE is a couple steps ahead insisting on ultra-padded, multi-buckled car seats, cribs du jour, and warnings that tummy naps are now a sin.

Then, when infants begin to crawl, good parents lay on their own tummies on the floor and look all around to get a “child's eye view” of their home to correct the dangers of dangling cords, plug-ins, sharp objects, etc. When the crawlers begin to toddle, careful parents try to protect their little explorers from falling hazards. Regardless, we find that most toddlers sport a shiner or a goose-egg occasionally, learning the balance thing.

We should want to protect the pre-schoolers from strangers, the school-agers from evil on the web, and the high-schoolers from drugs. These dark possibilities are so fearsome, in fact, to many parents, that their strategies to protect their children often overwhelm their trust in God.

As parents, do we make prayer and faith one of our parenting strategies? Do we take time to bow on our knees or lay on our own tummies (prostrate) to pray for our children and our neighbors' children, our schools and cities? Understanding God's Word and devotion to prayer is where there is divine wisdom and strength to build protection over our families and to develop self-protection within our children. Parenting strategies without God's input are rather frail fences, indeed.

As they mature, our children may sport a shiner or two, but a family's trust, support, and love provide a safety net for human beings that nothing else can. And, of course, there are things in life from which we cannot protect our children: true accidents, some health disorders, random violence, mental struggles. Christian parents will strategically build respect, honor, love, and trust in God which provide not only a critical reserve within ourselves to face eventualities of life, but also such reserves are built within our children, offering them protection for their souls. Life's worst dangers may assault us but may not destroy us. II Corinthians 4:7-18. This is the stuff of eternity – salvation (safety), no matter what. Psalm 127, Matthew 10:28; Hebrews 13:5.