Scary

A few weeks ago, three of us went to the eye doctor. Ben and I needed an upgraded prescription for some glasses, and Gillian had been told that she may be having a problem seeing. She has slightly-less-than-perfect vision, but she also has a pretty significant astigmatism. We had her pick out some cute frames and have been waiting for them to come in. After picking her up from school today, I got a call from Ben saying her glasses had arrived, so we picked them up and headed out for some more outdoors time.

We decided to visit a park in our area that was suggested to us by the mom of one of Gillie's best friends at school. I was wanting to be around more water and colorful trees, and this park definitely had those as you can see. But this park offered more than beautiful views.

A park ranger lady drove up to us after seeing us walking around the lake. She informed me that this particular park was the playground for some unsavory men. I grabbed my kids' hands and headed straight for our car, making sure that the dozen or so men who were hanging out near the parking lot knew that I saw them.

As I was leaving though, it seemed like two vehicles were following me. It could have been that I was just paranoid and imagining things, but I didn't want to show them where I lived, so I popped into the nearest Walmart parking lot to see if I would be followed. I WAS! Down each lane I drove! I called Ben to find out where the nearest police station was. I figured they'd take off if I pulled in there. But I couldn't find it. In trying to find it though, I'm pretty sure I lost them. And I wasn't anywhere near my neighborhood, so I think we're cool. How creepy though!

Here's the thing: Momma ain't no fool. I realize that I can't control the world. I realize that bad things happen no matter how psycho and protective a parent is. I try to not be as psycho as my mind wants me to be. I'm well aware of the dangers in this world, so it's easy for me to be that hovering helicopter mom. But I know God doesn't want me to live like that or put my kids through that kind of upbringing. I can only do what I think is important to keep them safe, and then trust that God will protect them. Scary, but true.