Guard Your Heart, Folks

A few years back I had a blow out with a very good friend.  Well, I thought we were great friends, until I learned they were sneaking into our house, stalking us, and putting our family in an uncomfortable place.  But before that revelation, I wrote this:

When I think about the circumstances and how it happened, it had been a long time coming.
Little things here and there I'd question in my head but not out loud. 
The comments like "oh I don't tell my husband about that" (My husband and I are a strict no-secrets couple, so this bugged me), "I sneak...whatever it was, usually money from the checking account, food, etc.", "I texted with so-so today, he's going to come over when my husband is gone next week.  Don't tell anybody if you see his car here."

That last one put me in a place that I couldn't stay.  Things had to change. 

 

Once we had the monumental argument that ended our friendship, I was upset and I cried often about it. My husband would try to console me and say don't let her get you down. Don't give her that control over you. 

I wish I had known how to be an assertive Christian back then.

I really didn't want to, I was trying very hard not to, as a matter of fact.  Being passive, and non-confrontational is more acceptable and comfortable in some situations.
The truth is that even when we try really hard not to be influenced, we are still affected by other people.  

It's just a fact that people have more control over us than we'd like to admit. Dang it.  It can be something as little as a friend talking about a like or dislike and that plants that little seed in our head that we now like or dislike the same thing.
If we spend too much time around negative influences we eventually take on their attributes and become negative ourselves.
I know this because it's happened to me so many times, and I'm not one who is easily influenced.
I try to be careful about who my kids hang out with and how much time they spend together.

Now that we are homeschooling it's not as big of a deal but it is still something that we try to monitor.  It has nothing to do with how good or bad of a kid they're around, and everything to do with giving them time to explore themselves and really find out who they are.

I know how easily I am affected by others even though I have had years to get over it to learn to cope and to be my own person.
I've learned that this is normal. We really can't do anything about it except moderate the time you spend with others and watch what kind of people we are spending time with.  Watch what type of magazines you read, newsfeeds you frequent, etc. 

 

To put it simply: Listen to your gut, follow your instincts, check yourself often, and please guard your precious heart.