infuse them with love

i’ve been watching the news more lately. i’m usually not a news watcher and watching more of it has reminded me why that is. it’s because the news is depressing. and i watch it wanting to scream at the TV,

*what in the world is wrong with people? and how can we treat each other this way? and why, oh why have we chosen to raise kids in such a harsh and cruel world?*

a world where kids bully kids until they’re suicidal, where families detach themselves from one another, where negative and inappropriate messages creep silently into our children’s lives through TV and commercials and movies and media, and how kidnapping is on the rise, and drugs are readily available and dealt right on high school campuses, and babies and children are getting abused, and people are killed for no apparent reason, kids are disrespectful, parents are indifferent, the government stifles creativity in schools, people rage and, and, and…i am sickened by the sadness of it all and then caught in an internal struggle : watch the news and stay informed or don’t watch the news and live in my naive, happy little bubble?

of course it goes deeper, and i start thinking bigger picture and what i want for MY kids. and i wonder, how we can influence them enough in our home so that they can be somewhat immune to the negativity and darkness that lurks in what feels like everywhere? and if not immune, at least prepared to fight. how can we equip them to battle the darkness? to combat evil with good? and all i can come up with is love.

LOVE.

it’s the only tool i/we can give them in such an angry world. and we work daily, minutely to infuse them with it. to fill their souls, so that they know full well the joy that is found in being loved. because once they know it, they can share it. spread the love, baby.

while it sounds easy, it’s apparent to me that i can only do so much. WE can only do so much. to really, truly infuse them, we must reach for a greater font of love. and that’s what i want them to know, the love of God, the love of Jesus. because we can only do so much for them in this broken place. we can only give them so many hugs and kisses to fix owies until the kisses won’t work anymore, and they need something more. something greater than we can provide. a Rock on which to rest, re-coup and continue the fight.

i’m not gonna lie, while i’m excited to watch them develop and grow into young men and women, the future in such a world makes me nervous. teaching them early-on the path they should take, infusing them with the love of God and the love of a family is the best we can do. and i believe it will be enough.

and while it all sounds very 1970s hippie, *infuse them with love, man.* God made hippies too. and love reigns.

* three things will last forever, faith, hope and love; but the greatest of these is love. * {1 cor 13:13}

 and darn it, i used up all my deep thoughts for the next 2 weeks!

LOVE *

Your Mama - With God at the steering wheel and you and Chad as co-pilots I know that my three grandbabies have all the love and great parenting that they need! Love you lots!!

Lisa Wagner - Ignorance is BLISS! I figure if its vital news than someone will tell me! There has never been a period of time when news is so readily avaliable 24/7 and from all over the world as it is today- its not normal! And the focus is almost always on the negative…thus raising my anxiety level! So i chose moderation and calm nerves! 😉

stacey - sara * thank you for your sweet words, and i do hope you share it with your friends, simply because it’s nice to have a reminder that our love, God’s love is enough! thank you for reading! xox

Sara Jefferson - Well said! I was having a very similar conversation with a friend just last week about how I value being informed on what’s going on in the world, but I find that my anxiety about parenting (and life in general) decreases significantly if I watch less TV. When worry or doubt in myself as a parents creeps, I have reminded myself of the very thing you wrote about here – it all comes down to love. If children know without a doubt that they are loved unconditionally by their parents and God, they’ll be fine. I’ll be sending this to friends because you said it more eloquently than I ever could!

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