Boundaries?

 Jeremiah 5:22- (NIV)- Should you not fear me? declares the LORD.  "Should you not tremble in my 

                                      presence?  I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it 

                                      cannot cross.  The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but 

                                      they cannot cross it.  

 Should we  set boundaries?  Should we set boundaries for our children but, not for ourselves?  Should we set boundaries for ourselves  but, not for our  children?  I believe God wants us to set boundaries for ourselves and for our children.  Spiritual  boundaries, personal boundaries and even... literal boundaries.

Literal boundaries are necessary to keep our children from getting physically hurt, who wouldn't agree with that...

Why in the world are there so many questions today about placing boundaries.  Children are not born knowing how to set their own boundaries. It is our responsibility as parents to first, set boundaries for them and then to guide them as they learn to set their own...

God gives us a place to turn, He makes it very clear that we need to depend on Him and not on worldly things.  The world is full of things ready and willing to "take over" for God.  These things are shoved in our faces every hour of every day.  The world would have you believe that boundaries are not necessary, that boundaries are a way of keeping us from growing. But, I feel the opposite is true.  If we set boundaries for ourselves we are able to accomplish more for the Kingdom.

Psalm 62:7- (NIV)-  My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge.




Personally, I have had to set boundaries with my morning coffee.  It may sound trivial to those of you that don't enjoy coffee.  However, I was looking forward to that cup of coffee in the morning more than I was looking forward to my quiet time with God.  Because of this, I had to set some boundaries...It sounds strange, even to me, that coffee would keep me from spending time with God...so let me give you a visual- I wake in the morning, get out of bed, grab my Bible and my study book and head for the kitchen...so far so good, right?  Okay, I get in the kitchen switch on my Keurig (oh how I love that thing), while waiting for the water to heat up, I start to unload the dish washer, then I fix my coffee and continue to unload the dishwasher. By that time I feel like  I need to hop on the elliptical because  I need my exercise...blah,blah, blah.. So now my family is up and I can't spend any quiet time with God because when the family is awake it is NOT quiet! So do you see why I need to set boundaries?  It is as simple as this:  I need to wait to have my coffee AFTER I sit down with my Bible and start my study.. It is not about the coffee. It is about whatever keeps me from God....which leads me to...

Someone asked me the other day, "why in the world would you limit your children by home schooling?"  What a question...LIMIT, boy do we see things differently. I believe I would be limiting her if I put her into a factory school where everyone is learning the same thing.  THAT would be placing unhealthy limits on my children.

However, once again I do believe in setting boundaries for my children.  Especially my teenager.  If we allow our children to just roam aimlessly without any boundaries then we have grossly misled them.  Life is full of boundaries.  As an adult, in most jobs, you can't just show up whenever you feel like it.  You will have a time to arrive and a time to leave... there are limits on what you can wear, where you can go, what you can do in a business or if they choose to stay home...there are certainly boundaries there as well.

 Some of the boundaries we set for our children seem foreign to others. Such as friends...we have set such tight boundaries on friends. I can't help it...we are just picky. Call it over protective, call it limiting, call it whatever you want. These boundaries keep my children from feeling pressured by the outside world. Boundaries keep them from broken hearts and from unhealthy attitudes, they'll see enough of that when they get older.  For example, if  a child comes to visit one of my children and the child isn't nice to my other children then that child is no longer on the "approved" friend list.  Why in the world would we allow someone to come into our home and treat one of our children badly in their own place of refuge.  It just makes no sense.

I am glad God sets boundaries for us...It makes me feel safer. Hopefully my children feel safer in our home for the short time that God has allowed me to have them home.

Faith~