Eternally Safe
Late yesterday afternoon, Andrew wanted to do some hunting. I dropped him off at his spot and he said, "Be back here at 5:00, sharp."
I arrived to pick him up at 4 minutes till, expecting to see him, but he wasn't there. I waited. 5:00. 5:05. I started to worry. Meanwhile, the darkness was starting to settle. I wondered where he could be. Was he hurt? Lost? Did he get a deer while I was making the trip down? It was one of those times I wished I had a cell phone.
5:10. Panic starts to set in. What if it gets dark and still he doesn't come. Do I continue to just wait? I start to think about how cold it is. I remember just the other day I read in the paper that a man from our area had spent the night outside and had to be treated for hypothermia.
And then, whew! I see the orange. He says it took him longer to get out than he had expected.
One of the hardest things about being a mother is that sense of helplessness that can overwhelm us because, try as we may, we cannot fully protect our children. The world would have us believe that safety is in our own hands, and of course, to some degree it is. The natural thing to do, is to overprotect, and I'm sure that is what I would do were it not for my husband, Tom.
But, realistically, deep down, we all know that it is impossible to protect our children from the myriad dangers that could swallow them up. This is where looking to the Lord and entrusting our children to him, comes in.
Am I saying that I have an ironclad guarantee that he wasn't lost or shot? Absolutely not. Do I still fear those possibilities? Yes, often. But the Bible says, "Safety is of the Lord." Ultimately, even in the worst case scenario, Andrew was safe because he belongs to the Lord, as do all my children. That is the ultimate safety precaution.
I arrived to pick him up at 4 minutes till, expecting to see him, but he wasn't there. I waited. 5:00. 5:05. I started to worry. Meanwhile, the darkness was starting to settle. I wondered where he could be. Was he hurt? Lost? Did he get a deer while I was making the trip down? It was one of those times I wished I had a cell phone.
5:10. Panic starts to set in. What if it gets dark and still he doesn't come. Do I continue to just wait? I start to think about how cold it is. I remember just the other day I read in the paper that a man from our area had spent the night outside and had to be treated for hypothermia.
And then, whew! I see the orange. He says it took him longer to get out than he had expected.
One of the hardest things about being a mother is that sense of helplessness that can overwhelm us because, try as we may, we cannot fully protect our children. The world would have us believe that safety is in our own hands, and of course, to some degree it is. The natural thing to do, is to overprotect, and I'm sure that is what I would do were it not for my husband, Tom.
But, realistically, deep down, we all know that it is impossible to protect our children from the myriad dangers that could swallow them up. This is where looking to the Lord and entrusting our children to him, comes in.
Am I saying that I have an ironclad guarantee that he wasn't lost or shot? Absolutely not. Do I still fear those possibilities? Yes, often. But the Bible says, "Safety is of the Lord." Ultimately, even in the worst case scenario, Andrew was safe because he belongs to the Lord, as do all my children. That is the ultimate safety precaution.
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