My oldest daughter is at a slumber party tonight. This is the second of such events in her life. I miss her, pray for her, and worry about her. Will she make friends? Will she make good choices? Will she stand up for what's right even if it's not popular? What will she be exposed to while in someone else's care? We know that who she's with are responsible parents, no doubt. I'm more worried about the other 7 & 8 year old girls and some of their talk and decisions. Will Maddy be tempted? Will she stand firm on her faith? Will she be a light no matter what?
This reminds me of the enormous task we have as parents. We must "train up a child in the way he/she should go". Part of that training is letting them take a venture into the world to see how you've done. It's heart wrenching and hard, but we will all do it at some point.
Too many times I think that we try to protect our kids and never let them be tempted or see evil or be exposed to something wrong. That's our right as parents to choose. Amy and I have prayed and we've decided to let our girls be exposed to some things that we aren't quite comfortable with from time to time or maybe don't even like so that we can see how we've been doing as Christian parents and talk to our girls about it.
In my years of youth ministry, I saw many parents that chose the protective route (over protective at times), which is every families own choice. I've seen many kids finally taste freedom at 18 (or later for some) and they go to college or tech school or into the work force. It's not that the parents did a bad job raising them, it's just that the temptations and exposure to sin and evil are great and something that they've never ever experienced in their life. For young adults who have never even been exposed to anything in the world, the temptations are sometimes too much to bear. The end result is a moral failure or act of rebellion that can sometimes lead to ruin. I've seen it first hand far too many times.
The toughest job we have as parents is to teach our kids to live Christian in an unChristian world. When do you expose your kids to that world? Amy and I would never expose our girls intentionally, but we know with schools and friends the temptations will be there to want to "be like everyone else" even when everyone else is wrong. I don't know that there is an absolutely 100% correct answer here. It's tough no matter what you decide as parents. Maybe Amy and I are wrong. Maybe we're right. We just have a few precious years with our kids. We've got to make the most of it. Teaching them to think on their own and depend on their faith and make right choices are a big part of our parenting. Every child will go into that world someday. I want my girls to be equipped to stand with God on their own.
For tonight I will read through my sermon one more time, pray and turn it over to the Lord and try to sleep. He knows Maddy and He knows the worries of a couple parents. I'm going to trust that He will be there to help when help is needed and rest in the knowledge that He is God and He is in control. Aren't we called to rest in that anyway?
I miss my girl. Can't wait till morning.
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