Opinions!!!!!!!

[LadyChocolate]

Originally Posted by acjcpastor

Have you ever watched Gone With The Wind? Horseback riding accidents happen. The point is, a 13-year-old girl could be killed while riding a horse. Now, we trust that won't happen and we don't even worry that it might. On the other hand, she could be abducted and raped while riding a bike to her horseback riding lesson. We have no way of knowing what will happen when they ride off into the wild blue yonder.

Statistically, there are more 13 year old girls killed in car wrecks that close to home than there are 13 year old girls pulled off their bikes and abducted by strangers. Yet we think it's safer to drive them. Why? At the end of the day, no matter how hard you try to protect them, kids sometimes get hurt. The only peace we can have is trusting that God will keep them and protect them, whether they are on a bike, in a car or riding a horse.

Which do you think is easier to deal with??? Your child being killed in a car wreck or being abused or kidnapped???

One thing you have to keep in mind is that, you have to do all you can do to protect your children.... You can't help it when you're in a car wreck and someone dies... That's tragic... but it's a lot easier to live with than knowing that you could have kept a child from being abducted, raped, murdered or anything... I know we can't live in fear, but we have to be sooo careful... Especially today! I trust God! So did my Mom... I rode all over... By the time I was in the 4th grade, I had to keep my own house key without losing it... my own lunch money.... without losing it.... I also had to leave from the house on time to make it to school.... Mom could trust me... but what about the car full of guys that were riding along side of me trying to hit me with a baseball bat.... What about the guy at the park who was hanging around us girls and then showed us a knife and told us to come to him.... and there was a crowd of us.... this was also 25 years ago... .... what about the man who was stopping innocent children, showing them a pic and asking if they'd seen a certain person... It was a horrific, perverse pic and it happen to my cousins and I ... Fortunately they saw it I got to the car, grabbed me and took off running.... we ran home in fear... I don't like to take chances... My boys want more freedom... they will get their freedom at a later day. My oldest is 11 and is almost as tall as me 5'9 and 200lb+.. He's a strong boy... but none the less, he's a boy and I will do all I can to protect him.... Where we live, more than likely nothing will happen.... and as long as I have the power to protect them, I will.... They'll have more freedom than they care to have in a few years..... They can wait !!! Over protective?? Yes yes yes.... But I will say, my children have never been in those situations that I was in.... My children have never been molested, thank God... They've never been abused.... My children haven't had their innocence stolen from them.... Being over protective pays off....

[Sister Alvear]

I was very careful with my children when they were small...I always worried about kidnapping because most foreigners think Americans have money whether we do or not...now I worry about my grand children...lol...
However please be careful they are so young and innocent and so trusting..

[triumphant1]

How old were those two girls that were killed by gunshot just 50 miles south of all of us--on a country dirt road--pne half mile from their house?

Country means nothing!

Age means nothing!

The fact that she is a young girl means a whole whole lot! Anything we can do as parents to keep our children from harms way should be done. Not allowing her to do this is a no brainer in my book! The answer is NO! I am sure the parents of those two girls in Okfuskie County--just south of Henryetta Oklahoma--wish their girls had a shorter leash--even in the country!

I have two boys--as you might know--I would not even hint at allowing a 2.5 mile jaunt alone for my 13 yr old!!! So I am not gender discriminating here! He doesn't get of our street alone to this day on his bike!

[triumphant1]

Originally Posted by MissBrattified

Yeah, I don't think I can do it. (let her ride....)

I would actually be more comfortable if she were driving and safe inside a locked vehicle. So maybe in a couple of years...

It's not helping Jeff's case that last year two Oklahoma girls were shot and killed--in a rural area, for no apparent reason. Ages 13 and 11.

I hastily posted before I knew you had already brought this up! That was just 50 miles south of us!! And in the country!! This alone would be enough for me to say.....NO!!!!

I would not fret one more minute over it....the answer is NO!

[acjcpastor]

Originally Posted by LadyChocolate

Which do you think is easier to deal with??? Your child being killed in a car wreck or being abused or kidnapped???

Think of it like this - If I was driving, I would have a hard time living with myself. If someone abused my kid, I could understand that no matter what I did or did not do to protect them, someone else did the dirty deed, and that could have been well beyond my control.

My original point is this - Most of our fears are based on emotions and unfounded speculation. Believe me, at one point, fear was controlling my life. I suffered panic attacks every time I was in a stressful situation. Going to church or just out to eat with friends was a big struggle for me. It wasn’t rational, but it was fear that was driving my actions. Today, I can thank God that He delivered from all of that.

Now, if I lived in a drug infested and high crime community, I would have bars on my windows, and double locks on my doors. It’s only common sense. However, we really need to learn to take precautions in life based on real risks. Besides pastoring a church, I make my living in safety management. You know, sometimes just breathing air is risky, but we have to do it. Driving is risky, but we do it. On the other hand, flying is one of the safest means of transportation available today, yet many people are scared to death to get on a plane. It’s just not rational. It’s my honest opinion that too many people make their risk assessments with demonically corrupted data. Sometimes we need to ask ourselves; are our fear driven actions really telling God that we don’t trust Him? Just food for thought.

[scotty]

NOPE , NOTTA, NEGATIVE, AINT NO WAY,

[triumphant1]

Originally Posted by MissBrattified

I see what you're saying, and Jeff is going to like your post. LOL!!!

We certainly don't have much (if any) crime in this area.

*sigh*

I am more than a little nervous...

Really, I don't think I can do it. She's going to have to be bigger, older and in a car. It's not that long really...in 2 years she'll be eligible for a driving permit, so she could drive the old farm truck.

Girl, they don't have much crime down in Okfuskie County either...but that did stop some perv (or pervs) from shooting those two girls like deer!!!

Matter of fact those were the first murders in that area in like years---and may I mind you---no one has been arrested yet!

[Stephanas]

It's easier than all of that.

You're living in redneck country, get the little lady a pickup truck and send her off to riding lessons with a rifle in the rack. (I see that she's on the short side so you might want to get her a truck with a lift kit to compensate for her stature.)

[LadyChocolate]

ACJCPastor I am curious.... do you have children? just wondering


No, we can't live in fear.... but God also gave us "instinct" and as parents we should never never never never never never ignore that......

[Blubayou]

I would not feel comfortable letting her ride her bike alone. I know I would be an over protective parent, but we live in a crazy world- and when innocence is stolen it can never be gotten back. Hang in there.