The More Things Change

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

This quippy saying makes more sense to me today than ever before. I finally understand why the great King Solomon said “there is nothing new under the sun.” I look around, and it’s all the same.

My kids are young, and my goal is to protect them from things they aren’t ready for. By and large, those things are much more dramatic today than when I was a child. Gender ideology wasn’t even a thing my parents had to have on their radar. But for me, every book we browse at the library needs a flip through, every show we watch needs a preview, and every event we go to needs to be well-vetted.

I never thought we’d get here.

I knew that there were people who didn’t let their kids watch Disney movies. And I knew there were people who didn’t go to the library because of the secular books. But I didn’t get it. I didn’t have a firm grasp on the Bible, so my worldview was…worldly.

I started paying attention in 2017. I was teaching a sex ed class to my 7th graders that had changed significantly in the two years since I had been trained. Suddenly, there was a gender-bread person in the workbooks and kids were asking me what pansexual meant in the anonymous question box.

I didn’t know and had to Google it. How did they know?

I was thrust into a war I wasn’t ready for. I didn’t know that these small things would take me down a rabbit hole that eventually inspired me to want to quit my job, homeschool, and start homesteading.

But first, I was part of a Bible study going through 1 and 2 Timothy. This is where my Biblical worldview began to be shaped.

Paul’s writings to Timothy to encourage him in his ministry, encouraged ME in mine. I quickly realized that I had it all wrong. My ideas about just about everything were based on the world’s standards, not on God’s. That needed to change!

My jump into 1 and 2 Timothy led me into deeper study in the Bible in general, and eventually into a love for apologetics. I don’t have it all figured out, but I have figured out that a basic knowledge of TRUTH is necessary, so that is what I strive to do with my kids.

I now understand that the cornerstone on which I need to measure everything is God’s indisputable Word, and that I must be discerning in all I read, watch, and listen to. I can’t just let things go if they seem off, but I need to really look and see why they seem off, and explain that to my kids at an appropriate level.

I need to be sure that I don’t slack off, and just let it go. Our world has the potential to truly harm our children–there is no hiding that the goal is to remove moral values from our society. And study after study shows that those lack of moral values lead to nothing good for our society, but I digress.

As a Christian, I have the ability and the responsibility to make sure that I am living with the hope in the promises God has given us. Hope of the freedom from sin and eternal life through His son, Jesus Christ. No matter how dark the world gets, how awful and sinful it may seem, I need to show my girls how we can cling to the hope that God has extended to us and be a reflection of the true Light in a dark world.

It is not always easy, and I mess up daily, but I’m grateful for this ministry in my home, equipping my girls for the world outside of the safety of our walls.

I won’t always be there to protect them, but if I give them the appropriate knowledge, when the time comes, they’ll be ready to stand with Truth at their side in a war that they know has already been won.