~ Be Careful Little Eyes What You See

These boys of mine are growing up so fast I can't keep up. Every day brings new changes:

* These pants hurt my waist!

* Does my hair look ok?

* Can I ride across town on my bike?

Can I take my brothers with me?

* None of my shoes fit!

* Can I buy this new gadget that costs ____ (way too much)?

* Can I go to the high school football game with my friend?

Add to those a new big boy bed and staying at the YMCA by themselves and increased allowances for new nightly kitchen duties and leaving the oldest home to babysit for a late date with hubby and on and on and on...

My chidren are growing up!

And I'm not ready!

How am I supposed to protect them and keep them safe with all these changes coming at me so fast? Not to mention ...

Internet

Email

Ipods

Texting

Netflix

Cell Phones (WITH CAMERAS)

How do I hold on to their innocence while letting them spread their wings?

How do I counteract all the negative influences in their lives when I don't know what all their little minds are taking in? When they're not with me 24/7 anymore? When other influences compete for priority in their lives?

I've been thinking alot about this lately.

I long to teach my sons to think about what is good and right and lovely. I want them to know how to keep their minds pure. After all, God calls us to this - to a life of holiness. A few weeks ago, we spent the week in our devotions talking about loveliness (thanks to Ann's post here). It might seem strange to talk with boys about loveliness for a week, but it gave us many opportunities to talk about how we can be loveliness to a world that is surrounded by such ugliness and how there is still much to appreciate in our lives despite the horrible things we see around us.

The more we talked about filling our minds with what is good and right and pure and lovely, the more I found myself asking, "How does one with a houseful of young boys protect their little eyes?" No matter where I look, I see things that, in a second, could undermine everything I long to teach my children.

It is scary raising boys. They are such visual creatures. Just the other day, my youngest kept asking to wear his green shirt. Apparently, Bobby on the Brady Bunch was wearing a green shirt, and he noticed. (He keeps telling me, "No mom, not this shirt. I don't look bootiful. I want my green shirt." HE's TWO! Scary!)

Anyway, I know that what we take in with our eyes helps determine what our minds think about. So I am very diligent in what I allow my children to do, where I allow them to go and who I allow them to be around. Sometimes, that makes me seem like the meanest mom ever. I'm sure other moms must think I am overprotective and a bit fanatical. Sometimes, I start to question whether I'm doing my boys more harm than good. Maybe I'm just being too cautious.

In our read aloud time, the boys and I have been reading a wonderful book by Nancy E. Ganz called Genesis: A Commentary for Children. It is one of the books in her Herein Is Love Commentary Series. The author wrote it especially for children to teach them about the love of God. I have to tell you, she may have had children in mind, but I am loving this book. It has given us so much to talk about. We read right before lunch, and sometimes they don't want me to stop. Lunchtime is often filled with questions or comments about the book and about God and His plan for mankind. I highly recommend the book for anyone to read if they want a new perspective on our Creator.

The other day we were reading the chapter about the Fall and how Eve had the witness of the world (the earth was full of praise), her own self (being made in God's image), and God's own words to help her flee temptation. However, Eve made a choice to move toward temptation.

These are the words that so captivated me in this lesson:

"The first step towards the fall was just a few millimeters. Scripture records that it was the movement of her eyes." (Ganz)

She looked at the forbidden fruit.

That was the first step toward the first sin, and it was only two more steps until she had disobeyed God. Three tiny steps to break her fellowship with God forever. From there, all it took was two more steps and the world was changed forever. Ms. Ganz goes on to say, "There were just five little steps from God to Satan, just five little steps from heaven to hell.

She saw.

She took.

She ate.

She gave.

He ate."

And with those five little steps, Satan "silenced the praises of God on this planet."

The moment I read it, it confirmed for me that I'm not just some overprotective mom. I'm doing my job. I'm protecting the one thing that has the potential to send my children down a path of destruction and despair - the path that leads away from God instead of the path that leads to Him. I'm protecting their eyes, and I won't apologize for it, and I won't cower from it because of what the world allows or deems appropriate.

I tell my oldest all the time, "With every temptation you will have to decide what to do with your eyes. Will you decide one little look won't hurt you, or will you turn your eyes to the One you know will help you resist it."

Amazing, isn't it, how just the shift of our eyes can determine our course. The question is, "In what direction will we shift them?"