Watch Out for the Mailbox!

"Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil."  Proverbs 4:27

My kids are catching on.  Sometimes I have to ask clarifying questions to some of their childhood memories, and they'll ask "is that for your blog?" or "are you going to write about that in your blog?"  If I'm not careful, they're going to quit passing me information because I'm talking about them.  Or they'll start charging me like they do their dad. When Ken talks about them in his sermon they get a good cut.  They even have spies everywhere who are willing to tattle if they weren't there to hear their name used.  It's extortion.

Anyway, I was reminded of a Kyle-story this morning, but had to ask him a detail..."Yep, it's going in the blog."  Poor kid.

Riding their bikes to school used to be a novelty.  To Alyssa and Kyle it was a great sign of freedom to be able to go the mile there, and the mile back, without any adult supervision.  Oh, it killed me the first few times to see them off and not know if they made it there safely or not.  In my head, I would fret over how long it would take the school to call me if they didn't arrive to school that morning.  Fret, fret, pray, pray.

Their trip home didn't worry me as much.  I knew I was their end destination, so I would wait patiently to see one of them turn the corner into our subdivision.

One day, Alyssa came through the door huffing and puffing, without her brother exclaiming that he got hurt.  So, I piled in the van to go find him.  A nice lady, who had worked at the school had stopped to help him, and was waiting alongside him until I got there.

I don't know exactly how it all went down...whether he was talking to a friend, or fighting with his sister, or if he was just day dreaming.  But I do know WHAT went down (ha!)...Kyle must have taken his eyes off where he was going and he ran straight into a mailbox.  Ouch.

I can smile about this little mishap now, years later.  In the moment, not so much, even though it was a bit humorous.  It reminds me today, however, to pray for my kids to keep their eyes fixed on the right path, not swaying here or there, because they might run into something that has dire consequences in their lives.  Some of it seems trivial to them...music and movie choices, friend decisions, even their fighting with one another.  Before they know it however, there will be a "mailbox" right in their path.  Some things, unfortunately, will take them off into bumpier paths that contain bigger obstacles and deeper potholes. 

Choose, my children, to stay on the straight and narrow path...the path God has designed and leads you down, because there you will find yourself on the greatest (and safest) ride of your life.

Lord, sometimes the path seems narrow, hard, and "boring", to use my kids term, but your path for our life is the best one, and will lead us to a place of great joy, peace, and safety.  Help our children to stay the course, and fix their eyes on you, not swaying to the right or to the left.  Protect them, dear Jesus, from the big potholes of life.  Help them to hear your voice, whispering in the ear, "this is the way, walk in it."  Lord, sometimes the other paths in life seem more inviting, or contain more excitement and pleasure, but really they can lead to such great destruction.  Help them to see the falseness of those lies, and believe the truth that your way is the best way, the only way, and the rewards are truly beyond anything else.  I pray that our children fix their eyes on your path, and are alert and watchful to the "mailboxes" that will pop up here and there in their path, staying clear of any harm.  Lord, you are their refuge, their life, and their all in all.  May they know in their hearts that truth!