Thank you SOOO much Jamie for the Sunday Thoughts link-up; I’m really excited to link up! 

Imagine this.  A plant growing in a greenhouse with light streaming through, regularly watered, fertilized, and gently cared for by its owner.  Isn’t that a delightful picture?  People might have called me sheltered, but I’m thankful for it. This year I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how I grew up, and I came to the realization that many people would have considered me to be ‘sheltered.’  I grew up homeschooled.  I didn’t go on a great deal of field trips; honestly I was more of a home body anyways.   We watched movies, but I didn’t do much internet or social media till I was 15 or 16.  I didn’t get Instagram till I was 21.   For a long time I wore my hair down and long.  I didn’t wear makeup (not because my parents said I couldn’t), but I honestly didn’t want to wear it.  

I loved my shelter.  My parents raised me in the rich atmosphere soaked with the gospel; my mother and father are both humble people that often confessed their sins and faults to us.  They aren’t afraid to admit they’re  wrong.  If we wanted to watch a movie, they would encourage us to think about it, they didn’t just let us watch or do whatever we wanted, and for that I’m actually really really thankful now because children aren’t very discerning or wise. I was a pretty foolhardy, impetuous child, and God used my parents to gently shepherd and shelter and teach me.  

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