Settle Me!

When our children were small, we lived on a granite mountain on about two acres of land. For the first three years or so, there were no fences in the yard. The house sat far enough back from the road, I could put my little ones in the back yard and watch them from the kitchen window. I had trained our daughter Hannah not to wander passed a certain tree. When I tried to do this same thing with Noah, he didn't take to it. He would amble on adventures beyond the bounds.

One morning I put them both outside and went back inside to start a load of laundry. A few minutes later I returned to find Hannah pretty much where I had left her, but Noah was no where to be found.
I ran frantically around the yard looking, when I spotted him just feet from the road. I wanted to run straight for him, but he loved a good game of chase. I knew if I tried this he would run right into the busy road. As I took my first steps toward him, I prayed for help. He didn't notice me following him. As I closed in on him, he heard the rocks under my feet and turned to look. I took a deep breath. We made eye contact and I reached out my hands for him. He smiled and turned to run away from me. I yelled, "NO!" He was startled and turned back toward me. At that moment I scooped him up and carried him back into the house crying and praising God that he was safe. Just a few days later a six foot tall, chain link fence was put up in our yard.

Scripture says fear hath torment. Watching your children do things you know could hurt them is the most tormenting experience for a mother. There are some lessons that can only be learned through experience. A baby's first steps require many falls. Riding a bicycle will mean dealing with accidents. You can warn your child about the dangers, but you can't keep him from trying something if he truly believes there is no harm in it. So, what is a parent to do with this kind of torment?

I Peter 5:7 "Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you."

You must give it back to the Creator of life himself. You must come to the place were you realize your children are not your own. They are God's and he knows what he will allow to happen to them. That doesn't mean you don't continue to protect and warn. It only means you release the worry.

I can't say this was easy for me to learn. I can say that God did a lot to train me along the way. You see, I have another son. His name is Jonah. Remember that six foot fence I told you about? That fence wasn't tall enough to keep him in. He was always escaping. One morning, when Jonah was almost three, I sent Hannah, Noah, and Jonah outside to play while I worked in the kitchen. About twenty minutes later, I heard screaming coming from the front yard. They were never to play in the front yard without me outside with them. I had told them all to stay in the fenced back yard. I went through the house quickly to see who was screaming and there at the foot of a large maple tree was Hannah. She was circling the tree looking up. She was screaming for Jonah to come down. Noah was circling the tree as well, but he was covering his mouth with his chubby hand laughing. I looked up into the tree and could see by skinny, little boy had made it nearly to the top limb. The branch was swaying with his weight. I threw my hands toward heaven and prayed aloud, "Lord, help me!" Then proceeded to climb the tree. All the while visions of Jonah falling or firefighters coming to get him down were dancing in my head.

I couldn't climb as far as he had. When I had to stop, I reached up and yelled for him to come down to me. He let loose of the limb he was clinging to and fell right onto my frame. Needless to say, I prayed all the way down, while he clung to me like a monkey. When we reached the ground, I wanted to tear into to him like a whirlwind, but I couldn't. I was so relieved we were all safe. It was at that moment God prompted me with this thought:

"I gave you these children, but they are not yours. Keeping them safe is MY job."

Later, I learned this verse from Psalm 4:8: "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety."

I can't tell you I have given up all worry regarding my children. But, I can tell you that God used that experience to teach me how to respond to it in the right way. He settles me when I release myself to him. Let's spend a few more blogs on the words "Settle Me," and see if we can learn something.