Insulate or Isolate?

Recently I was part of a 3-family conversation. We spent a lot of time talking about our children & how they should fit in, (then) flourish & even stand out...in these times - in the schools they attend & among those they interact with.



We talked extensively about how we need to be very watchful with how different things are from when we were growing up. Knowing which environments & experiences we expose our children to is surely one thing & then knowing which ones to extricate them from is definitely another. Needless to say, it's not an art or a science, it's a (very) spiritual matter - imo.


During our reflection later, my husband and I said we need to be careful that in taking care of our children, we don't isolate them from the "building blocks" of life. It's one thing to "insulate" our children but we need to be careful not to isolate them. We know too many parents who want to (& actually) "bubble-wrap" their children but that is one sure way to set them up for failure.
I agree that our children are precious - mine are extremely precious. However,  life as a whole is precious & fragile which is why we must handle it with prayer - based on God's Word.

So rather than bubble-wrap our children we must expose them fully - yes, absolutely fully without any filters - to the Word & Way of the Lord because that's the only way they will learn to hear God & isolate other voices. Hear what His Word says:

Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.* (Isaiah 30:21 - NLT)

John 10: ³ The doorkeeper opens [the gate] for this man, and the sheep hear his voice and pay attention to it. And [knowing that they listen] he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out [to pasture]. ⁴ When he has brought all his own sheep outside, he walks on ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice and recognize his call. ⁵ They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” (AMP)

The Lord, the Savior, the Holy One of Israel, says, “I am the Lord your God. I teach you for your own good. I lead you in the way you should go.” (Isaiah 48:17 - ERV)

May God help us as we train our children to isolate the voice of strangers and only follow Him.

AMEN!