Who's in Charge of Your Village?

No one seems to be quite sure where the quotation originated, but many are quoting this these days:

"It takes a whole village to raise a child."

Does it?

If it does, as parents, it is our responsibility to make sure we choose the right village in which to raise our children. There are lots of villages out there that I don't want my children going anywhere near!!!

Now having said that, I am very grateful that we have wonderful support from many sources as we raise our daughters. There are some mighty incredible villages out there that add much to the quality of our lives.

Family – We know, unfortunately, that there are many who deal with unsupportive family – thankfully we’ve never had that particular challenge! Our extended family is completely wonderful, blessing our lives in oodles of ways. When someone is occasionally cranky, they don’t focus their frustrations on us. The girls love to show off their projects or tell about their latest adventure, and family makes a great audience. It’s even better when we can share the adventure together!! Muchas gracias, guys!!

In-Real-Life Friends – Near and far away, again we are supremely blessed! You know who you are, and what you do, and we appreciate you more than we can say. You are precious treasures!!

Church Family – Admittedly it took us a while to settle in, due to our own limited perspective, but for a long while now we have felt loved and supported by many we feel grateful to call brothers and sisters in Zion!

Local Support Group – Small in numbers, they are HUGE in heart! Our once-a-week park days or field trips really add to our love of homeschooling. The girls both have some special friends that they want to keep for life! The moms (and even some dads!) are pretty great, too!

Online Support Group/s – Cyberspace is a much less scary place when you connect with other like-minded folks. Generous, understanding, sympathetic, and willing cyber friends contribute SO much! With so many different groups out there, it isn’t hard to find one (or many!) to belong and contribute to. Some of our online buddies have been part of our lives for YEARS now, and yet we’re still making new ones quite regularly. We can count on you!

I'm leaning toward thinking that it does NOT ultimately take a village - our Heavenly Father assigned that responsibility to parents, and we are the ones who will some day stand before Him to make an accounting of our stewardship.

When a village is threatened by natural or manmade calamity, whose children do the villagers choose to save? Are the threats to all villages the same? Are some villages just plain and simply better for the welfare of their citizens than others or is that distinction completely dependent on the individual villagers?

We do need each other. It’s not the concept of a village that I disagree with – it’s the assumption of responsibility. That rests squarely on our shoulders as parents.

It’s not a burden, it’s a blessing.