Do you have Skittles in your bubble?

WARNING: This post is solely my opinion. Its likely you will disagree – please know that you are entitled to.

Every morning when I wake up, I am bombarded with the news that is happening around the world. Bombings, hostages, sinkholes, mudslides, mass shootings, earthquakes, terror threats, etc. The list can go on and on. Scary, right? Of course! Who wouldn’t shudder at the thought of living through a complete nightmare? Or maybe even not living through it at all?

Question: So what do we do? How do we protect our kids and loved ones? 

Society’s Answer: Protect them. OVERprotect them. And then protect them some more. Place them in a fake bubble where green grass grows tall with wildflowers under sunny skies. A place where everyone is a winner, everyone is equal, and everyone is always happy. Oh, and did I mention it rains skittles?! 

OK! Reality Check: 

LIFE DOES NOT TAKE PLACE IN A BUBBLE. Let’s repeat: LIFE DOES NOT TAKE PLACE IN A BUBBLE. We get knocked down, bruised and scraped, but we can dust ourselves off and get back up, too. We have highs and lows and good and evil. We have choices and decisions and can succumb to temptation. We win and we lose. 

And who would really want to live in a perfectly safe bubble anyways? Think of all that you would miss out on! How can you appreciate how great something is when you havent experienced how bad it could be? I mean, would you even know it was great? How are you going to feel love if a world is full of only good and no heartache? How are you going to learn about yourself? Your strengths? Your weaknesses? Your desires? 

May as well just paint the whole world a shade of bright, fuzzy, happy yellow because that is exactly where we are heading!

I learned not too long ago that kids dont even say the Pledge of Allegiance in school anymore. And forget about singing… “My country tis of thee, sweet land of Liberty, of thee I sing… ” That has been thrown out, too. I knew there were some folks wanting it removed, but I had no idea that we actually buckled down and removed the morning ritual! And why? For what reason? Who was it really offending? And what does that one kid have to say about the accommodating change? 

And now, due to all of the issues around the confederate flag, the channel TV Land is discontinuing its showing of Dukes of Hazzard re-runs. Really? Because the General Lee displays a confederate flag? That show is a white, redneck classic! May as well cancel The Jeffersons, too… white folks could start some trouble about the black man moving on up into the “white mans” world. Total ridiculousness. 

Oh, and just this morning – a group is trying to have the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner revised to remove the line “bombs bursting in air.” I mean, this totally makes sense — because those bombs gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. You know, the flag that you dont want to pledge allegiance to anymore. 

We spend so much time trying fix the world so as not to hurt or offend every  individual person that we are only hurting our future. Teaching children in little league games that there is no score – everyone is a winner – and then that kid grows up and the first time he fails at something… uh oh… what do I do? Ive never been in this situation before!

Just let me remind you.. Its GOD’s job to protect us and look out for us when we fail. WE do not need to act like God and protect everyone. “The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.” – Psalms 145:14 WE. ARE. MEANT. TO. FAIL. In fact, I am not an expert, but I do believe that God sent Jesus here to live life as a human, knowing he was going to feel pain – and suffer!

So, let me ask again. 

Question: So what do we do? How do we protect our kids and loved ones? 

Answer: Love them. And let them live and experience ALL that God let’s the world show them. Good AND bad, success AND failure. Let them know the hard times we have been through so they can learn, on their own, how to make the future brighter.