The Rock

This is a rock that mysteriously appeared in my office a couple of months ago. It's pretty cool, huh? Either Piper or Sam made it for me; I'm sure they told me, but I don't remember.

I know they gave it to me as a pretty rock, but I look at it this way: I am their rock. Or, rather, Bryce & I are their rock. We hold them steady. They can depend on us. We keep them above the water. They can trust us to keep them safe.

Safe. 

Is that even a real word anymore?

I feel like our world is crumbling down around us and there's nothing I can do. How are we supposed to keep our girls safe in this world if it is spiraling out of control? And I'm not just talking about the coup in Turkey or the attack in Nice. I'm talking about the sweet, innocent metropolis we reside in, where some 12 year-old girl was sexually assaulted (and reportedly raped) at the aquatic center near my house by a 14 year-old boy.

Just when I think that it's good that we give our girls a certain amount of independence, I hear of stuff like this and I want to lock my girls up in the attic or handcuff them to me whenever we go out in public. Here? In my town? Nothing ever happens in this town.

I know that there is only so much that we can do to keep our girls safe and to make them feel safe. 

I'm scared for them to enter into adolescence with such a crazy world, even here in my little city.

Ugh. It makes me sad and sick at the same time. I wonder if our parents felt the same way when we were children and if their parents felt the same way about them, etc, etc... But what good is it for me to worry? Then, I would be stuck within a sheltered life, always watching out, suppressing the outgoing life that we have right now and teaching my children to live in fear.

Anyways, while I may not always be able to keep them safe, I do hope that I can be dependable as a rock for them (B too), just like Christ is for us. He holds us steady. We can depend on Him. He keeps us above water. We can trust Him to keep us safe.

"On Christ, the solid rock, I stand

All other ground is sinking sand."

Beautiful words to live by.