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Vol. 2010 Issue 6 ~ June

My kids are at the ages where they can occasionally stay home alone together. It feels odd to get a babysitter for a 13- year-old and an almost 12-year-old, especially now that Sara has begun to babysit for others, but it still feels like I’m holding an experiment every time I leave them alone at home. Will they be alive when I return? Will the house still be standing? Will there be a police car outside when I pull up? (I have an active imagination.)

I knew I’d be doing leaving them on their own once a week for a few weeks, so I came up with some rules:

1. Pretend Mom is standing in the room with you at all times.
2. Do your absolute best to get along. Do not lay even one finger on each other.
3. If you’re fighting, just stop and wait to discuss it when Mom or Dad comes home.
4. Do not cook anything on the stove or in the oven.
5. Do not take a shower.
6. Do not play outside.
7. You can call Mom in case of an emergency (for instance, if someone is bleeding), but do not call to say, “Jack is standing in front of the TV,” or “Sara won’t give me the remote”. I’ll be mad. And no one likes it when I’m mad.
8. Staying home alone is a privilege and a responsibility. We let you do this because we trust you. Don’t give us any reasons to stop trusting you.
9. Remember that God is watching everything you do, say, watch, and play, so make good choices.
10. But because God is watching you, remember that He’s right there with you to protect you.

I was sharing this list with a girlfriend and I said, “Unfortunately, I don’t actually believe number ten.” Something happened several years ago to a precious friend, and it placed a firm belief in my mind that God can, but will not always, physically protect us. But I don’t tell my kids that because, well, that’s not exactly reassuring.

So what does it mean when He says throughout Scripture that He will protect us, when we can look around the lives of people we know who love God who have died from cancer, died in Iraq, died in car accidents, et cetera?

I want to believe that God will protect my children. I believe He can. But I don’t know if He will. In fact, it’s pretty rare for me to even pray that prayer over them because I just don’t know if I should bother.

Part of me thinks He must be talking about spiritual protection…that we will never be hurt beyond repair spiritually…that we cannot be snatched out of His Hand. And part of me can’t help but wonder if my very limited definition of protection being equated with being spared from actual death and/or physical pain is not, perhaps, a bit naïve, foolish even. And part of me just has no idea.

I think it’s safe to say that this one falls under the category of “His ways are higher than my ways”, and so I will shuffle along, making rules lists for my kids, telling them to take all their concerns to God, praying and hoping He protects them, but knowing above all that if He doesn’t, He will carry them and me through that as well.

Submitted on : 24-May-2010