A Parent's Greatest Fear

Two little Amish girls in our area were abducted last week... I'm sure you heard about it. It made national (and international) headlines, and rightfully so. These two girls weren't really that far from their parents, helping out at their roadside vegetable stand, and were forcefully taken.  Thankfully, they are back now, but will have to spend a long time trying to get over what happened to them, I'm sure.

 Anytime my wife and I hear about a kidnapping (especially one like this, so close to us), it makes us fearful. Most people in the world would never harm a child, but we all know that there are some who would.

There are those out there who prey on children, who want to harm them, and unfortunately that's the realization probably all parents face at some point. We like our kids to be able to run around our yard without us hanging over them all the time, but at times like this, I understand why we just can't let them be as free as they want.

It's all still so fresh in our area right now, but I know that we will all relax a bit eventually, and things will go slowly back to normal. Meanwhile, though, all of the parents of the world were just given a wake-up call reminding us that we can't control everything.

As our kids grow older, their area of roaming increases. My nephew is going away to college this fall... it's the beginning of The Great Release.  He's not going to have Mom and Dad to tell him when he has to be home at night, or telling him to mow the lawn or wash the dishes.  Except for probably doing his laundry (I'm sure he'll still be bringing that home), he'll pretty much do what he wants.

Our oldest went to sleep away camp for the first time this summer.  She's growing up rapidly, in my opinion.  And her sisters will soon follow.

We just hope and pray that they stay safe.