Pages

Friday, October 28, 2011

And the Walls Came Crumbling Down

Have you ever read the book of Nehemiah?  It is the story of how Jerusalem lay in ruins and it's gates had been burned.  Nehemiah wanted to rebuild the wall around the city so that the citizens would once again be safe.  He was ridiculed and chastised for trying to rally people into helping build the wall.  But he was steadfast, as he knew attacks would come again and again and the people would never be safe in their homes, without
                                                                            that hedge of protection around them.

If you read the whole story, you will see that people were stationed around the city, family by family, each responsible for building their part of the wall.  As they were rebuilding they were under constant threat of attack from their enemies.  So while they worked on their portion of the wall, they actually had to hold weapons with one hand in order to protect themselves.  They worked side by side, each one having their role in building the wall and protecting the family.

Think about this, each family was busy building and protecting itself.  As a result, a strong wall was built around and protected an entire city.  I think about families today, so scattered, so distracted, so preoccupied with the things of this world.  Who is protecting your family?  Are you working shoulder to shoulder to build up it's strength, all the while, being vigilant to outside danger?  If you take the time to see what is going on with each member of the family and make sure that you are all puting forth the effort to spend time together, praying, laughing, taking walks, whatever it is that your family enjoys doing, you are shoring up the protection that families so desparately need today.

It's not always easy to monitor what our children are watching on tv, doing on the computer, playing on their game system, or doing with their friends.  But, this is how enemy is slipping into families and bringing destruction.  I have witnessed families where the children barely come up for air from their video games.  Their little minds are being filled with God knows what, hour after hour after hour.  Boundaries are almost undetectable in society so we must set boundaries in our homes.  I don't mean we shouldn't ever allow our kids to have fun or that we shouldn't trust them.  We are to build them up, while watching out for them at the same time.  Just like the people did while they were rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem.

It's not just our children who need protection, but marriages, as well.  As life moves on and stress builds, we can either turn to each other, as a couple, for strength and safety, or we can turn outside our marriages.  We make little choices every day that will either weaken or strengthen that bond.

There are some families who have taken a lot of care to build strong walls of protection.  There are others who have cracks in their walls with signs of crumbling on the way, and still others, who's walls have completely come down, their family in shambles!  What if each family did their part to protect each other from the outside forces that are so harmful to them.  It would seem to be the natural progression that with healthy strong families, would come healthy strong neighborhoods which would lead to healthy strong cities and who knows how far this concept could reach.

What steps have you taken to build a strong safe family?  Share some of your ideas with us on how to make a strong society by starting with strong families!

From His lap,

24 comments:

  1. Such a great post! Thank you for sharing...so true!

    Quoting from above: "If you take the time to see what is going on with each member of the family and make sure that you are all puting forth the effort to spend time together, praying, laughing, taking walks, whatever it is that your family enjoys doing, you are shoring up the protection that families so desparately need today."

    We've been so busy with kids' activities that I'm not even sure what our family enjoys doing together! We have been on the go non-stop since March due to baseball & football. Tomorrow is the last football game. Thinking we should spend some time building a few walls after that! ;)

    Thanks again,
    Jenny~The Magic FarmHouse.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jenny,
    I have 6 kids so I feel your pain!! We have made it so hard on ourselves as families by being involved in so many activities. It didn't used to be that way. We've got to find a way back to just spending good old fashioned family time together!!
    I'm so glad that you came by to share with us!! I pray that as your family gears up for the holidays, you have lots of wonderful time together!!
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It's always good to be reminded about the importance of our families and the blessings provided.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Erin - our pastor’s messages on this. Fascinating what an awesome leader Nehemiah turned out to be. It’s inspiring to see how God can use a lowly cup bearer! Dianne

    http://www.lifechurch.tv/watch/change-your-world/1

    ReplyDelete
  5. Spotted Cow Review,
    Thank you so much for stopping by! It is good to be reminded to slow down and be a family!
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dianne,
    I'm listening to your pastor right now! Excellent message!
    Hugs,
    ~Erin

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is such a great question. What do we do to build a strong family? My husband and I both agree that it starts with our marriage. When we are happy in our marital relationship, that happiness flows over to our children and gives them a sense of security. When we are stressed out and treat each other with resentment, our children act out. We've been under a lot of stress in our home lately and I do see it spilling over to our kids. The strife has to end. We know God's truth and we know our love for each other is incredible. But we've been allowing the enemy into our head and our attitude. Thank you for providing a platform and the question so I could talk myself through a problem I need to work toward correcting. :-)

    Blessings to you my dear friend,
    Rosann

    ReplyDelete
  8. Rosann,
    When I was growing up, my dad hung a plaque in our kitchen that read "The greatest gift a father can give to his children is to love their mother." This plaque hung in our kitchen for my whole life! When we choose to love each other above all else but God, it will trickle down to our children and they will know they are loved.
    I'm praying for you, my precious sister!
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great points here! So true! We have to believe, first of all, that we have an enemy who is actively seeking to sow destruction into our lives and the lives of our children. When we really believe that, we don't take things for granted. There are no "neutrals" when it comes to influence. Either the influence is good or it is evil. Even things that seem "innocent" can teach the irresponsible wasting of time. As parents, we have to be standing vigil, actively evaluating and teaching our children to do the same thing. We should know what they are watching/listening to/reading, who they are with, etc. Otherwise, we are opening them up to the possibility of undesirable influences.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anne,
    Thank you for sharing your nugget of truth. It was so good...exactly how I feel, my dear! It's our responsibility and our calling as spouses and parents!
    Thank you so much for sharing!
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is so true Erin. We need to remain vigilant in our own homes, society is too busy being politically correct to even care. What a great post! Blessings. Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  12. Lisa,
    "Politically correct" is killing our morals and values. You are right. We are to remain ever vigilant!
    I'm so glad you stopped by!
    xo,
    ~Erin

    ReplyDelete
  13. Erin I love coming to your blog, and hearing the wonderful music, and reading these blessed posts. This post is confirmation with a book that I am reading The Necessity of an enemy. I really needed to read this, this morning, thanks so much for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pamela, thanks for your kind words. I'm so glad you enjoy coming here! It's always good when God confirms a word with us!
      Blessings!
      ~Erin

      Delete
  14. Your posts are always so inpsiring and this one especially. We go so fast these days. I have a problem slowing down and remembering to nurture and be nurtured as a family!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jacqueline, thank you! You are so right. We've set ourselves up in this fast paced life and it's hard to break out of that cycle and tend to the most important things and people! You always bless me!
      ~Erin

      Delete
  15. such a beautiful post! Thanks for sharing and for the reminder! :) xo,
    Kristina
    citycorporatetosuburbmama.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for stopping by, Kristina. I'm glad this post blessed you.
      ~Erin

      Delete
  16. Is this a new look for the site? I love it.
    Love the music that you have playing. I think this is a great inspiring post. It's especially true to monitor what your kids are watching as that is how they become influenced by those things tht trickle in without our knowledge.
    Leigh
    www.oneandoneequalstwinfun.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leigh, it's the same old site. Thanks for visiting. I'm so glad you stopped by!
      Blessings!
      ~Erin

      Delete
  17. Erin, great post! You are so right that we need to stand shoulder to shoulder to protect our families. We are the watchmen God assigned to our family and we need to be diligent over their care.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amen, Shannon! That's who we are and it's an awesome responsibility! Thanks for stopping by!
      ~Erin

      Delete
  18. It's so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day, and then suddenly you're standing there asking "What happened?" I constantly have to take time to center myself around what's important to us as a family versus what "society" thinks my family should look like, and it's hard. But, when you focus on the love of your family, it gets easier :-)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Jenn, that is so true! If we would just take that time to center ourselves every day, we would stay focused on what's important! Thanks so much for stopping by!
    Blessings!
    ~Erin

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for giving us a little nugget of truth from your heart!

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...