I AM Guilty!

The email came through from the school.  I have to admit, I literally sucked in air as I read it.  My knee jerk response was, "Oh give me a break, I don't know how to parent in this society.  Let me just take my boys to the hills."  My tiredness. produced by just trying to pay bills, had led me to be just like the ostrich................put my head in the sand.

I naively wanted to say, "No this will not touch our home. No this has nothing to do with me."  Even though, in the past, I had supported all efforts to shut down this evil, which seemed to be far away from me, I now needed to engage. (my sidebar shows organizations that fight against this)

The email was for all parents of my son's high school.  The seminar would be Human Trafficking 101, presented by, Stop the Buying and Selling of Children, and the dangers to our high school students.

My heart jumped. I was allowing my own new adjustments to justify me putting my head in the sand.  In so doing, I was also putting my two younger children at risk.  I was also not putting up a fight against this injustice to other children.

This was my second wake up call in the last few weeks.  I was at another event while mothers shared what was happening in their schools.  One lady was a counselor and she expressed her concern about the issues before the students she was counseling.

• pregnancies in the elementary school
• phone apps that allowed pictures to be sent then they were erased in seconds...girls were sending pictures of their bodies to boys...they didn't know that the pictures were now property of the owners of the apps
• boys being listed as sex offenders because of pictures they received on their phones...remind you sent to them, not them sending pictures
• apps that allow activity to seen by the youngest ages
• the list went on and on and on and on................my heart grew heavier and heavier

Many will assume that home school households are like the ostrich.  That in a home school house you don't deal with the issues other children are exposed to.  May I say, after 25 years of home schooling, SIN was always evident in our household.  It walked straight in the door and violated myself and my children more times then I would like to admit.  Home schooling did allow me to cushion some of the ages that my children first became exposed to certain evils, but it didn't allow me to shelter them from the world.

I now have two in school, and Benjamin is exposed  earlier than my other children.  This is also because of modern technology.  When my older children were home schooled there wasn't Facebook, social media, internet on phones, I-Pads, Apps...so in some ways it was easier to keep them innocent a little longer.  To be honest, technology has brought both good and bad.  As much as I restrict it, it is still here to stay.  

"So, Janette, what are you rattling about?"  "I really can't say, except, the cold water in the face this week means, it is time to stop making excuses.  It is time to get my head out of the sand.  First step..........go to the conference and engage."

Is there something that God has placed on your heart to engage in?  Is He calling you to put down the excuses and engage?  Life moves forward, with bumps and bruises, dreams lost and struggles.  Scripture tells us that, but the best way for the enemy to triumph is when we allow those things to keep us out of the fight.  My children are worth the fight and so are my grandsons.  All those children affected my human trafficking need someone to stand and fight.  I am pulling my head out of the sand.