I Refuse to Be Silent

Day 328 : It’s more important to be your child’s parent than to be their friend. They can have lots of friends, but only one mother. When my daughter was just entering high school she shared how her close friend and her mother were best friends. I asked her if this was the kind of relationship she wanted us to have. She thought about it for a minute and said, Yes. I thought about it for no minutes and replied, "maybe when you're older, but for now I'm going to be your parent."

Parenting is heavy on my spirit today as all around you can see with eyes wide open the breakdown of family. We have celebrities who are saying fidelity is not necessary while others are talking about open marriages. I ask what about the children? We sit glued to our television looking at people like Sandra Bullock win awards all the time wishing it were us. Then with the blink of an eye you fade to black and see the damage done to a family and especially the children.

When did it become right to have men live over your children who are not their father and it be okay? Just because the baby daddy has a woman living with him does not justify what you expose your children to. Am I holding women to a different standard- I'm holding mother's to a higher standard. At the beginning of this day, I was hurting for daughters and later I heard the story of a major recoding artist who said to me," don't forget about the boys". We must protect our boy's as well. He went on to tell me the abuse he suffered at the hands of a boyfriend.

I'm hurting and I will confront it when I see the children in jeopardy- in love not in condemnation. We must be watchful and have discernment of what is going on in our children's lives. We must open the lines of communication and ask questions. I don't give a heck about your privacy or if you want to hear the advice I need to share with you. I will release what I know to be truth and then you are accountable for what you do with it.

I made a plateau of mistakes in raising my children and because of that I have wisdom to share that might help other's avoid some of those pitfalls. My daughter is a baby with a baby at twenty years old. I thought I sent her off to college equipped but the language mistaken as love was stronger than my teachings. My beautiful granddaughter is a blessing and I couldn't imagine life without her. Yet, everyday I see the struggle of a young girl pushing to be a woman and a parent.

At the end of the day we all make decisions. While her pregnancy broke my heart, at least I have the comfort of knowing I did my very best to protect her and give her Godly wisdom to operate with...her words not mine. I know I played a role in it by not recognizing she was not mature enough to go off to college and I should have kept her close.

When our kid's fall down we have to look in the mirror and ask ourselves what WE could have done differently. Not because it will change anything but it could affect the future of another child, maybe your own, a friend’s, family member, neighbor or stranger.

I want to be able to stand before my Lord and tell Him I did my best for His children whereever I had knowledge of need. We cannot afford to not get involved because they are not our children.

This is a TEST- If it HURTS it is not LOVE!