My bubble

This article is wonderful and full of so much good stuff. I snagged it from Amy's, beware! It is very long but worth the read.www.familyministries.com/HS_Crisis.htm

I picked out the portion below because that is exactly what I was thinking about this weekend driving home from KY. Nate and I have been talking about abandoning it all and disappearing into the wilderness. Really, we are talking about buying some rural land and moving our family to live a wilderness lifestyle. I won't go into the whole venture now, because I wanted to ponder something that always comes to mind. I have referred to the condition as the bubble family, but it was stated beautifully below.

A major problem for us may be that we do not have what we need to give. We lack a kingdom view, so cannot give it to our kids. The sheltering mindset common to homeschoolers sometimes creates inward-focused families. We get so used to cutting ourselves off from everything that might threaten us that we end up separating ourselves not just from the world, but even from most Christians. God’s goal for us is not that we raise strong family-minded children who grow up and meet other strong family-minded children, who then marry and raise more strong family-minded children, who grow up and do the same. That line of thinking is totally self-centered and renders God’s people impotent as warriors for His kingdom. God’s goal for all His warriors is to continually reach out to the lost in the world. That is why we are here.

That is it in a nutshell. I have known some really great families and when we talk I so often here moms say that they want their children to really know the lord, and then marry well. (not in the material sense) I myself have told my children that the most important decisions they will ever make is to accept God and his lordship in their lives, and secondly, who they decide to marry. I then go on and on about how important their spousal choice is, I include disasters that they have/are witnessing in marriages, I usually throw in Solomons poor choices, and never forget Samson and Delilah. I am consumed with their purity so that they will not mess up their future families. These things are good to do but I wonder if I am somehow missing an oar in my boat. What if I were to focus on "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you." If I were able to grasp the affairs of the kingdom, then the affairs of the family wouldn't be able to have a grasp on me.

This too struck me from the article. The intensity of our emotions on an issue is what impacts our children most. In fact, I once heard it said that our children learn what is important not from what we say, but from what they see us “stress out” over.
This has so many good layers to it, but in relation to what I am talking about I think this is important to not lose focus on who and what we should have our eyes on. If I as a mother am focusing on the Lord and his kingdom then my children are more likely to do that as well. If I as a mother am too focused on them and the family, then they in turn will learn to focus on themselves as well and not learn how to keep their eyes up. For me, I have always wanted to keep them in the bubble until the age of their own accountability, so that while they are under my protection, I have kept them safe and undefiled. I am not sure that that mentality doesn't have some root of selfishness and pride. I mean that I will look good, my kids will look good, and once again my focus will be on my family. My family can become an idol. If I keep them in the bubble and then they marry in the bubble and raise their own children in the bubble, how much good are they really for the world of kingdom warriors? There is no guarantee for a warrior. He may be killed, wounded, disheartened and even fail.

So I am left with deep thoughts that are not all my own, but I am going to ponder this some more and see what God has for me in this area. He says that if we ask for wisdom he will freely give it.