Ramblings of a concerned mother

I have had this blog for awhile and haven't posted anything. My life is as my title states a circus. And life can be crazy under the big top.

But....
I saw this thing on the news last night where a man was found guilty of sexual assault when he engaged in sexual relationship with a girl twice his age. They met on MySpace. The small town was left bewildered. In fact one person went as far as to say they didn't understand how this happened. Come on people open your eyes. We are sending our children out into a world full of perversion and greed and not giving them the resources to handle it. We spend our days blaming each other for the lack of discipline in our youth or worse yet we are blaming the kids. Tell me this...did you learn how to eat or dress yourself all on your own? Did you learn to ride a bike or spell you name just by simply waking up one morning and being determined enough to do it? Of course not - then how can we expect our kids to know exactly what to do in life? To know how to handle situations that can and will harm them.

Many people will say that it's the man's fault. He should have known better. And you are right - he should have. He's twice her age and an adult. She is just a child. But we are missing a key ingredient to this. They met online, she agreed to meet him, she had sex with him. The key ingredient here is she agreed to meet him and had sex with him. Please don't think I'm blaming the girl - that could not be further from the truth. But we expected this girl to make an adult decision with a child's mind. We trust and have faith that the other people on the "internet line" talking to our children are who they say they are. Even though we can't see them and yet we won't let God into their lives - even though we can feel Him

As mothers we expect our daughters to act "lady-like", to respect themselves and their bodies. but have we taught them how? Or are we leaving it up to the father's to teach the young boys to be men of integrity. To respect woman. But with that line of thinking we are throwing our daughters into the lions den without a second thought. You've heard the saying "boys will be boys." Well that applies to more than just jumping off of couches or doing daredevil stuff. Not ever boy is being lead the right way. Not every boy was brought up to look the other way. they will still see a young desirable woman/girl. and just like we find it hard to walk away from that delicious cake they will find it hard to walk away from your daughter. so we have to prepare them for that. to understand that by respecting your body and taking care of it doesn't just mean eating right and staying a virgin. It means looking at yourself in the mirror and asking yourself - are you that delicious dessert that is so tempting it can't be resisted. When you look at yourself do you see a young woman clothed in a way that shows you respect yourself or are you wearing clothes that scream you want attention? Again, please don't misunderstand I'm not saying that a woman/girl deserves to be attacked based on the way they are dressed. Nobody asks to be attacked and should never be made to feel that they were "asking for it".

Mothers take a good long hard look at yourself. What image are you projecting? Your daughters will follow your lead. They want to...they need to and they should. But what path are you letting them walk down?

Proverbs 3:5,6 - Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Hebrews 10:23 - Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep His promise.

Ok - so that's all I have to say for tonight. I'll step off of my soap box. I promise next time I will blog on something more lighthearted!