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Why what parents believe matters

I was driving Eli to the doctor on Tuesday when I pondered the conversation I'd had with my husband just before I left the house.  I know he was concerned with my heart and speaking the truth in love, but at that moment my mind pondered a tangent.  


Why are current ethical and moral issues such a source of consternation to me?  Why does it matter so much to me that I feel compelled to sort out what I believe about these issues?


I realized that it matters so much to me because I am the filter that my children see the world through.  I am the filter that guides what they learn in school since we homeschool.  I am the teacher that explains and helps them understand the world and things they don't understand.  If I don't understand an ethical or moral issue about society, how can I then explain it to my children?


It matters what I believe.  Not only for my own heart and mind--because it guides my actions and words--but also because I am responsible for my children.


I am glad to be able to articulate this because I have been in a quandary this year as to why I get so troubled by ethical and moral issues in our world today.  Now I feel like I understand a little bit better why it matters so much to me.    


I once read that we, as parents, are responsible for protecting our children.  Sheltering has become a bad word in our society.  When, in fact, we are responsible for protecting and sheltering our children from the things that they cannot handle--or shouldn't have to at such young ages.  We all shelter our children, but it looks different in each of our families because of our convictions and beliefs.  


Our beliefs about how much much or how little we should shelter is like the size of the lens and what we believe is the shade or tint on that lens.
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