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Protecting Our Kids
Lance Cordle

As Yogi Berra once said, "You can observe a lot by watching." A couple of weeks ago my wife, Laura, and I were walking across the church building's parking lot when we noticed a bird that appeared to have a broken wing. We looked down with pity on the bird and even commented on its condition. Little did we know that we had become part of a natural scenario in which a bird cares for its young.

A few days later, Laura noticed that the bird (we now know to be a killdeer) had laid eggs just beside the steps leading up to the church building. After she had pointed them out to me, I went back to see them. When I approached, the adult bird ruffled its feathers and ran away, trying to distract me from bothering the eggs. I was fascinated by this behavior and took others to see it as well.

As I reflect on the experience, I think of the marvelous foreknowledge that moved the Creator to instill within the killdeer the instinct to protect their young. If God cares so much for such a small, frail-looking creature, surely he cares for us. That is exactly the point of Jesus in Matthew 6:24-34.

But even more importantly, I think, such instincts teach us that the duty of a parent is to protect his or her children. The distraction techniques of the killdeer are just the way the protective instinct plays out in that species. Other animals have other methods, but the instinct was placed there by God.

Man, however, is different in that he can think, and knows that he should protect his children. He may not always do so, however. It is a sad commentary on our society to see mothers and fathers fail to protect their children. They should be doing everything within their power to provide them food, shelter and clothing. The Bible clearly says that a Christian man who fails to provide for his house has denied the faith (1 Timothy 5:8).

Providing physical shelter is not the only way of protecting children. Emotional and spiritual protection is also needed. Our children need to know that we love them. They need lots of hugs and kisses. They also need to know
that their mothers and fathers love each other. The security of a good, solid marriage will help keep children from seeking emotional fulfillment elsewhere. Finally, being attentive to our children's behavior and reasonably monitoring their activities can protect them from the tragic circumstances of evil people and things such as pornography, drugs, etc.