03 January 2011

Yes, we shelter our children


Yikes, you "shelter" your children? Here's a new word that keeps coming up around homeschoolers. It is mostly used by non-homeschoolers and you may even hear it at your church from your Christian friends and leaders. That word is often spoken in whispers regarding 'the family' who has chosen to shelter their children.


 I admit that we do. But before you begin to psycho analyze our decision let's consider the meaning of the word shelter.  (I firmly believe that however the Lord leads you in your family, then that is what's best for you. All families are different.  I feel it is extremely important to search the Lord's will through faith and prayer when it comes to decisions being made for your family.)



Shelter~That which covers or defends from injury or annoyance. The state of being covered and protected; protection; security. He that defends or guards from danger. To cover from violence, injury, annoyance or attack. To defend; to protect from danger; to secure or render safe; to harbor. There are many scripture passages that show what a loving, protective, sheltering, delivering, Father we have.


Psalm 18-2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer

2 Timothy 4:17-18 God strengthens us and rescues us.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.

Psalm 56-9 When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back

Psalm 91:3-5 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler...he shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Psalm 121:3-8 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is they keeper: the Lord is they shade upon they right hand. vs. 7-8 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve they going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Joshua 1:5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Isaiah 41:10 I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Psalm 1241 2-6 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us: then they had swallowed us up quick,, when their wrath was kindled against us....Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.


If our family is guilty of sheltering, then so be it. Even the wonderful Christian 'sooth sayers' who love to counsel families in regards to the idea that our/your {homeschooled} children should be the 'salt and light' to the world, and, they should be exposed to the evils and the wrongs in the world in order to 'strengthen' them against it.  Those overwhelming feelings of love, the desire to protect, and care for you baby! That shouldn't end just because your child turns 5. They depend on us, their parents, to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord all their days. They don't need to be exposed to evils, lies, and the false teachings that are corrupting our children each and every day to make them strong and stand against the storms of life. The word of God, His teachings is what they need to make them strong. Do we feed their bodies junk food to strengthen their bodies? No, that weakens them, just as the junk food fed their minds in our schools, by tv, etc do not strengthen them. We feed them whole foods, living foods; that is where their bodily strength comes from. So as filling them up in the word of God strengthens their souls.


So I say "shelter away." "I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way." Proverbs 4-11-15


I love those verses in Proverbs. Ask yourself~are YOU guiding your children in the way of wisdom? Are their teachers, the television, friends, and church leaders guiding them in the way of wisdom. To whom are we trusting the guiding to?


Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well. Whatever your child is being instructed in, that will he hold onto.


Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way."


"If you want to know what has de-Christianized the country, I point my finger to the provided school from which Christ has been turned out and the door slammed in His face. The thought of it makes me bury my face in my hands and sob with sorrow and shame.~Heber C. Iverson Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way.




18 comments:

Pam... said...

You go girl!
Isn't it strange to be living in an age where people think that laying your life down to protect and nurture your own children is odd? That giving up many of your own ambitions to serve is harmful? That laying a foundation of God's Word in your family is being strict or hindering them in some way? Go figure. Love the Scripture references.

Mrs. Stam said...

Amen!!! Oh and I'm guilty of doing the same thing!!!!

Tammy said...

I so enjoyed this post! May the Lord continue to bless your family!

momoflots said...

Happy New Year!!! You bet we shelter our kids!! I haven't read in any place in Scripture that we are called to expose our children to the world - inspite of what other Christians say!! It's odd but we find that it is even difficult to send our children on overnighters with other Christian families since they have ended up showing our kids movies we wouldn't dream of showing children!! Here in very liberal Seattle we are considered very strange indeed :0)!!!

Blessings this New Year!!!
Christine

closed said...

love the post...its SO true...todays time has looked upon homeschooling your children as sheltering, and sometimes harmful...however what is so horrible is teaching our children in a PS that we come from things such as monkeys, bacteria, and my favorite a fungus! GREAT post! Its nice to see another mom defend her ground...

Anonymous said...

Amen! So do we :)...and proud of it. Well said post.

Laura said...

Amen & Amen!!!!

Shelter on, and so shall we!!! For we parents are the ones responsible for our flock...I haven't even seen in the Bible where it tells us to leave our sheep to be tended by the wolves ;)

Blessings and Happy New Year to you and your family!
Laura

Anonymous said...

As you already know, the Lord has not blessed me yet to have children of my own.

However, I just wanted to let you know that once I started doing my own little research about homeschooling, as well as learning more about what the word of God has to say about taking care of children, I have reached the same conclusions as yourself. Therefore, I support your beliefs regarding this matter whole-heartedly!

I just wish I had learned these truths earlier, but I suppose better late than never.

With that said, keep "sheltering." You won't get any complaints in this corner from this "non-home schooler." :)


Blessings,


-Lady Rose

Kim said...

Amen! Great post! We too "shelter" our children. Once children (any person) is exposed to soemthing good or bad...it's there...you can't remove it. I would much rather "shelter" my children from the bad!

Michelle G said...

The one year our children attended a charter school in the midst of a family move.....I was actually called in for a conference because they were concerned I was "parentalizing" my older children...long story short - one of our older boys refused to get on the bus because his younger brother was NOT on the bus - he was missing. The counselor told me that "His only worries at 10 should be video games and playing -NOT the whereabouts of his sibling!"
Well - thus ended their enrollment :) I told the 10 year old "I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE PROUD!" and we went home.
Our 19 year old daughter is being "courted" by a young man and WHOOOO BOY do we get lectures on "sheltering" the kids when that comes up.
That's okay. I won't have to answer to the world. :)
GREAT BLOG!! Thanks for this post!

Mountain Home Quilts said...

Well, you've already got plenty of Amens! But let me add one more :) AMEN. I feel the EXACT same way. Your children will be blessed because of it!

LaSandra said...

Well said! Love this post!

Brenda said...

Boy, did you hit the nail on the head. A million amens. I really think that if more people would practice sheltering the world would be a much better place. But instead, children raise themselves. Their off to school seeing and learning who knows what, not to mention the big tv babysitter. Thanks for this post.

Anonymous said...

Love this !!! Keep up the wonderful work you are doing in raising your family.....yes, we shelter our children too !
Marie

Jamie {See Jamie blog} said...

Yep, I'm guilty of sheltering my children, too. And glad of it!

Simple Home said...

So well said my friend!! I love the verses you chose too. I love that we have sheltered our children, and I see my older ones are now so much more grounded in their faith and convictions than I was at their age. They are strong young men, and I shudder to think of the choices they might have made if we didn't shelter them :-)
Blessings,
Marcia

Becca said...

Amen!!!!! That's our job!

dggp said...

Excellent post and all of it so so so true. We are the only biblically appointed teachers of our children. I agree with it all Tricia.

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