As a parent, it is OUR job to protect, provide, educate, and lead our children. As a mother, it is MY right and charge to make sound decisions that are in the best interest of them until they can make their own decisions. Are we willing to stand up? Plus, new segment alert!
When I was young, I remember coming home from school every day and sitting down with a lemon and salt in front of the tv. I could eat one right after the other if allowed. I had a whole process to eating them and it was delicious. I mean, what could be better than lemons and Saved by the Bell?! My dad would tell me not to eat too many or it would ruin the enamel on my teeth. I would roll my eyes because surely it wasn’t that dramatic and who cared about enamel anyway?
In recent news, there has been talk about allowing 11-year-old children to have the legal right to decide if they want a certain hot-topic vaccination. Not only that, but in the article I was reading, it stated they would also be able to keep the information from their parents! Excuse me?! There are many things wrong with this type of scenario but I wanted to address a few concerns.
A human brain is not fully developed until around age 25 yet the world expects a child to take on decisions, thoughts, and actions as if they are 40. While we cannot shield our children from everything the world throws at them, we also cannot allow the world to completely define how they are raised.
Our decision to homeschool was originally a combination of both not being able to afford the school we desired and not wanting our son to attend a public school. Looking back on that time, almost 7 years ago, I see that as a moment when a life-altering decision was made. And we didn’t even grasp the importance at the time.
In the desire and conviction to raise our kids a specific way, we aren’t perfect. Gracious, the mistakes I have made as a parent. My own apologies I’ve had to give to my parents after experiencing things as a parent myself. Phew. I love sharing funny stories and precious pictures on social media, but if we are being honest here, there are days when it is ugly at our house.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the desire to make it all perfect, when all we really need it to let go of the control. Let go of the ideas of perfection. Let go of the anxiety….yes, the ANXIETY….of raising our children in this moment. I know I’m not the only one who’s woken up in the night with a racing heart and overwhelming thoughts of “how in the world am I going to get through this?”
Yet. We have been given charge over these children. How dare we take such an enormous responsibility and not be willing to fight to the death to protect, provide, educate, and lead them? How dare we allow the world to tell us what is best? I don’t mean just with medical decisions. I don’t mean with just one thing or another. I mean with it ALL.
Are you willing to stand up and fight for them? Are you willing to make hard decisions, sometimes ones that just don't make sense or may take a lot of work, in order to protect and lead them? Don't doubt your abilities. You've got people in your corner!
New Segment alert!! "Puzzle Pollyanna" - unsure if we will keep the name if this is something that continues - and y'all gave me 19 submissions! The picker wheel randomly chose CRAYON and so I share, on the fly, what type of object, or life, lesson can come from that. What do you think? Good idea? Good lesson? Should we continue?
I'd love to connect and hear from you - send me an email at courtney@imperfectlypollyanna.com to share any feedback you may have, questions, topics you'd like to hear about, or even just to vent to someone who will listen without judgment.
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Of course, you can always find and engage with me on my Facebook and Instagram. See you next time!
Hey there! Welcome to Imperfectly Pollyanna. A podcast where we have real and honest talk while finding the positive in the imperfections whether in homeschool, faith, health, or overall life. I am your host, Courtney, and I am SO glad you are here!
When I was young, I remember coming home from school every day and sitting down with a lemon and salt in front of the tv. I could eat one right after the other if allowed. I had a whole process to eating them and it was delicious. I mean, what could be better than lemons and Saved by the Bell?! My dad would tell me not to eat too many or it would ruin the enamel on my teeth. I would roll my eyes because surely it wasn’t that dramatic and who cared about enamel anyway?
Bless.
I realized why I should care about enamel once I was older and became self-conscious of the lack of enamel as well as the sensitivity to foods. Come to find out, my dad actually knew what he was talking about!
In recent news, there has been talk about allowing 11-year-old children to have the legal right to decide if they want a certain hot-topic vaccination. Not only that, but in the article I was reading, it stated they would also be able to keep the information from their parents! Excuse me?! There are many things wrong with this type of scenario but I wanted to address a few concerns.
First, as a medical professional. A human brain is not fully developed until as old as 25. 25! This explains a lot of my dumb decisions even as a 21yo, haha. But if that is the case, how can we expect an 11 yo to know who they are much less what are sound health decisions? What child wouldn’t want to stuff themselves with processed food, sweets, or otherwise if given the chance to decide day in and day out? Granted, my kids do pretty well in at least trying healthy things. But if I wasn’t to give them any guidance at all and not provide them with the tools to know why certain foods are good and others are not great choices…what sort of health would they possibly be in? What about in the area of taking daily vitamins or medications? Yes, there are those children who enjoy the taste of a medicine, but the majority have no desire nor would they remember. We don’t take a multi-vitamin however we do a whole food product that we love but still need reminding to take.
Yet, there are adults…with fully formed brains apparently…that suggest a child could make a significant health decision without parental knowledge? I know there is likely a valid argument such as the need to help those who may be without good parental care and deserve the best care. I won’t go into how broken the system is in general.
As a parent, it is OUR job to protect, provide, educate, and lead our children. As a mother, it is MY right and charge to make sound decisions that are in the best interest of them until they can make their own decisions.
In the bible, there are situations in which children are rebuked for being brought to Jesus. Do you know what happened? Jesus rebuked right back and said “let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Note that the idea of coming to him as a little child means innocent.
My heart hurts for children who have to grow up too soon. Have their innocence stolen. Yes, this means those who have dealt with neglect or abuse. But this also refers to the innocence that the world steals every day.
While I would love to keep my kids in a protective bubble their entire lives. Never experiencing pain, disappointment, betrayal. That is not life, right? Plus, part of life is learning to take struggles straight on, being resilient.
That being said, while we cannot shield our children from everything the world throws at them, we also cannot allow the world to completely define how they are raised.
Our decision to homeschool was originally a combination of both not being able to afford the school we desired and not wanting our son to attend a public school. Looking back on that time, almost 7 years ago, I see that as a moment when a life-altering decision was made. And we didn’t even grasp the importance at the time.
Isn’t that how life is sometimes? How many times have you been through something that didn’t make sense, was so difficult you could barely breathe, and you look back to think “welp, that’s why that happened.”
Granted, there are still things in life we don’t understand and may never truly grasp the why but even then, knowing there is a reason can give us a sense of peace.
I’ve recently been watching a show called Poldark. I love that time period. The balls. The dresses. The way of living. Well, except for the parts when people were beaten or killed in war. There was a time when women didn’t have the choice of who they would marry or they had to have the approval of either their father or the man of the house like a brother. It didn’t matter if the woman loved a man or not, it was about who was thought to be best for her. Now while I don’t think that was the best or fair way, I have to say in today’s current affairs, I wouldn’t mind the option of having arranged marriages and I may or may not already have shared this with friends who would have potential future mates for my kids, hahaha. The thing I wanna point out is how the men of the house were appointed to care 4 the women until they were able 2 move out of that house and on with their lives. Whenever we are given a child it is not for us too give them the freedom that maybe they want but instead give them the guidance that they need. We are appointed as their parents 2 leave them and teach them.
In our church, we dedicate our children to the Lord at a very early age in typically it’s within the first couple of months of them being born one possible Now I know some religions do baptisms or something along that line but for us we dedicate. I was dedicated by my grandfather and my children were dedicated by my dad, their grandfather.
When we had our son dedicated, I sang a song by Sheri Easter called Hannah Prayed. I cried throughout the entire thing. The story of Hannah is one of beauty. Hannah was one of two wives and she was unable to conceive for years while the other wife had children. Her heart hurt and longed for a son. She cried out to God to give her a child. She told the Lord that if He gave her a son, she would dedicate him to the Lord all the days of his life. Hannah kept praying and finally, she conceived a son and named him Samuel. Once he was weaned, she took him to be dedicated.
As someone who experienced infertility, struggling to think God had forgotten me, fighting the depression that came with the losses, I stood there dedicating my own son, I crying thankful tears knowing my prayers were answered and my life would never be the same.
We made a decision then and there to raise our son to know the Lord. As my dad said about his own kids, they can’t get to heaven on our pant strings, but we are given the charge to lead them to know Him.
In the desire and conviction to raise our kids a specific way, we aren’t perfect. Gracious, the mistakes I have made as a parent. My own apologies I’ve had to give to my parents after experiencing things as a parent myself. Phew. I love sharing funny stories and precious pictures on social media, but if we are being honest here, there are days when it is ugly at our house. It is HARD. It is tears. Arguing. Fighting over doing school. Griping over what to do for dinner. And that’s just the adults, haha. I kid, I kid. Sort of. Being a Christian, a believer, and a parent doesn’t automatically mean we have it all figured out and make the best decisions every day.
Trying our best. Trying YOUR best. That’s what is important. Every day, you get back up and face the morning knowing that there will be moments that you question God’s decision to even allow you to have a child, much less raise one that is “in the world but not of the world.”
Sometimes we get so caught up in the desire to make it all perfect, when all we really need it to let go of the control. Let go of the ideas of perfection. Let go of the anxiety….yes, the ANXIETY….of raising our children in this moment. I know I’m not the only one who’s woken up in the night with a racing heart and overwhelming thoughts of “how in the world am I going to get through this?”
I know many will say that homeschooling isn’t for them. I’m not here to judge your decisions. But I am here to have honest and real talk. If you’re here listening then I consider you a friend, even if we’ve never met. And friends, true friends, are straight forward even when it’s difficult to hear.
So, whether you’ve chosen homeschool or not, whether you’ve raised your kids already or are just starting out…it is YOUR responsibility…it is OUR responsibility to raise warriors. To raise believers. To raise a child that is innocent but will grow to know the Lord. We have been given charge over these lives and even on the messy days, when we want to crawl into a space of darkness and despair, know that you were chosen to parent these children. No one else was chosen. YOU. ME.
How dare we take such an enormous responsibility and not be willing to fight to the death to protect, provide, educate, and lead them? How dare we allow the world to tell us what is best? I don’t mean just with medical decisions. I don’t mean with just one thing or another. I mean with it ALL.
If you’ve considered homeschool and think “I’d love to but it’s not for us” or “I could never do that” or you’ve prayed, cried, fretted over what to do with your kids in a world of chaos…I am telling YOU that you can! Not because you are some special human being that is above anyone else. Not because you are the smartest, most talented, most educated. But because you were chosen to fulfill a plan.
If you’re currently homeschooling and you’re doubting your capabilities. Listen. That fear and doubt is NOT from the Lord. It is NOT from the one who led you down this path. You can do this. If it means throwing everything out the window that you’re doing now because it’s just not working and finding something that does? DO. IT. Do it TODAY. You don’t have to start at a certain. You can begin again whenever you need to.
That’s how life is. When something isn’t working. When the weight of the world is like hands around our throats and strangling us to death. That’s the moment when you have a choice. You can succumb to the pain, the fear. You can give in and do what is easiest.
Or you can stand up and fight back. You can cry out to the One who called you His own. The One who breathed life into YOU all those years ago. The One who breathed life into your own children before they were born. The One who created you is the same today. His power and ability is enough to bring life to an empty womb. It is enough to part a sea for an entire nation of people to walk through on dry ground. It is enough to move heaven and earth and He will fight for you. With you. Stand up against the world. Be in the world but not of the world.
Your children? They’ll see you. They’ll see your example. They’ll follow you. Lead them the way that you know you should be leading. If yesterday was a complete disaster? If all the days leading up to this moment have been an utter mess. Give it over to Him. He will take the burden and he will lead you where you should go. He will protect, provide, educate, and lead.
The question today was “Who do our kids belong to?”
I want to turn that question to you. Who do your kids belong to? Do they belong to the world? You? The Lord? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to protect them? To lead them? I have no doubt that you can. It doesn’t mean life will be ideal. It doesn’t mean there won’t be days when you still battle with struggles. It doesn’t mean you’ll suddenly have the perfect meal planned and on the dinner table every night and your kids will happily eat up everything without complaint. Wouldn’t that be something? It also doesn’t mean your kids will grow up never knowing pain, temptation, mistakes, or otherwise.
However, I don’t know about you but I’m not willing to lay down and let them be swept away into a world of darkness that has nothing for them except to make them feel they aren’t perfectly made, they aren’t loved, they aren’t acceptable, they aren’t chosen for a purpose bigger than being the most popular and mainstream. In a world that is full of confusion, be a light. Teach your children to be a light. What a wonderful thing to know that we don’t have to have it all together in order to be a good parent. You know that, right? I have had to tell myself that many times. Even when I know the truth!
If you’re struggling with fear and frustration as a parent. Whether in something I’ve mentioned in this podcast today or something completely different. Please know that He is faithful. He believes in you. And I do, too. If I could give you a hug in person, I sure would. If I saw you face to face right now, I would give you the biggest smile and let you know I’m in your corner. I’m fighting with you. Since I can’t hug you, and you can’t see my smile behind this microphone, just know that I still think and believe the same either way.
Over on social media last week, I asked for your participation. I wanted to try out a new segment called “Puzzle Pollyanna.” Now, if you enjoy this and I end up doing it again, I’m not sure if I’ll keep the name, but the idea is you give me random objects and then I plug them into a picker wheel to randomly choose one and have me create a positive life lesson on whatever is chosen. So, right before I recorded this episode, I did the picker wheel and there were 19 submissions! Now, this may end badly or make me sound ridiculous, but I’m excited to try it out. Before I do that, I am needing your help. If this episode, or even another one of mine, has spoken to you, would you be willing to share it with someone else who may be needing some encouragement with faith, homeschool, health or life? If someone shared this with you, you’ve found a friend. The way a podcast gets traffic is through word of mouth and I would sure appreciate it. You can also leave a review or rating if the platform you listen on offers that as an option.
Ok, now to the object lesson. I’ve not planned this ahead of time so this should be interesting. The item the picker wheel chose was…a crayon.
Kids making pictures, so proud. Looks simple. Sometimes messy. Parents love it. God sees the beauty. All the same color or a muddle to brown. He loves what we bring to him bc he loves us and he knows our hearts desire to bring him joy. Bring your mess. Bring your broken life. Bring your love. He will handle it with joy and care.
*I’d love to connect so make sure to find me on Facebook and Instagram or send me a quick hello over at imperfectlypollyanna.com! I’ve put that in the show notes for you. Also, don’t forget to subscribe in order to know when new episodes are available!
Remember, you are loved and I am GLAD you are here. See you next time!