Beware Grandma Bears

II Timothy 1:12 For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed ; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

The first day of school is just around the corner.  If I dwell on it I will get sick to my stomach.  This year six of my seven grandchildren will be attending public school.  While I know we have a great school district, that is not what can terrify me if I allow it.  What can is thinking about what my grandchildren are doing after school hours while parents have to continue work until four or four thirty.  Children can get into a lot of mischief and even danger in an hour or so if not supervised.  While I know my adult children do their best to keep an eye on them, I also know that it isn't always enough.  If a head is turned in the wrong direction for even a moment, a child can slip away unnoticed.  This has actually happened a couple of times.  When I received the call that they couldn't find a particular child, my heart sank and I began praying frantically for God's intervention.  I felt helpless and heartsick.  Personally, I feel that if a school position is going to keep a parent longer than normal school hours, free supervision should be provided.  The district will tell you that they provide a latchkey program, but even teachers and staff have to pay quite a bit of money to use the service, even though it is run by the district.  This should not be.  The teachers and staff are providing extra service for the district, do not get paid extra to do so, and therefore should not have to pay.  Their compensation should be free child care.  Since this is not happening, at least as yet, what can I do?  Entrust my grandchildren to God. 

If I am truly convinced, as the above verse states, that God is able to guard what I entrust to Him until my day of joining Him in heaven, then I should give them over to His care completely.  This is not to say that wisdom should not be employed.  Rather that I should hand them into His care and seek His face to see if there is anything else I personally need to be doing to ensure their safety. 

This is difficult even now after all these years of serving God and seeking Him out.  I admit that I want to go in, take the superintendents by the throat, get in their faces and tell them how neglectful, insensitive and uncaring they are being by charging those who serve under them to protect their children, when they are supposed to be in the business of freely caring for them in the first place.  However, this would accomplish one thing only - me being thrown in jail.  I would from then on be deemed a fool and no one would ever listen to a word I had to say again.  Instead, I do as God's word instructs and pray for those supers.  I ask that God would bless them with understanding and wisdom.  That He would guide their hearts to see that they are placing undo burden on those trying to do their utmost in their position and that they should be supportive of them, especially when it comes to their children's safety.

Today's study was on relinquishing our children to God.  I have had to go through that process more deeply than ever before most recently when asked if I would continue serving God if my spouse, children or grandchildren were taken away.  The grief that consumed my soul felt almost more than I could bear, but yes, most definitely yes!!  I will continue seeking my Father's face, with His help, no matter what befalls me.  However, the war may be over and victory won within me, but the skirmishes still take place and have to be squashed.  If I do not fill the voids left by the empty space left when the fretting was removed, it will fill again with the same worries, only they will become much stronger within me.  Therefore, when a skirmish arises, I must run to the Father, pour out my heart to Him, seek His word and allow Him to fill that void with the "peace that passes all understanding" that comes from a genuine relationship with Him.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Philippians 4:8

There is that verse again.  It is one I must cling to and that is hanging on one bathroom wall as a reminder.  These are the things to dwell on rather than the "what-ifs" the evil one loves to throw at us in order to consume us with fear and doubt.

Father, I pray for the schools of this nation and every other in this world.  They are supposed to be the protectors and guides of our children and grandchildren.  In some areas they go way overboard and in others they seem to be lacking.  Lord, I pray that You would place in leadership of the schools those You heart has prepared for the positions.  I ask that You would bless them with understanding along with wisdom.  Show them where they have erred and guide their hearts to do what is right for the protection of our children, but help them understand that things need to be done in a manner that does not breed fear, but instead breeds faith and a real sense of security in You rather than in the power of man, which is no real power at all.  Guide the hearts of the parents and grandparents to know what needs to be done for the safety of their families and help us all to walk in faith believing You in each and every situation that arises.  In Jesus' precious name I ask this.