Broken Arrows

                 Last night this vision came to me of a broken arrow and I felt a tugging on my heart to write about the analogy. I sat in silence waiting to hear from God as to what he wanted me to say, and this is what he impressed on my heart.
                The image of the arrow symbolizes our children and it's brokenness symbolizes our disappointments,dreams unfulfilled.We all want our children to grow up without the struggle we endured and with more than what we had.We want them to be high school scholars,college graduates and successful professionals.But children are often the product of their environment.
                What environment are you cultivating for your children in your home? What are you demanding from the friends or acquaintances they are associating with? What are you instilling in your children from what they observe you saying and doing?
                 If we want our children to live righteously,we must direct them on the path they should go,just as in archery.But we can't expect a broken arrow to fly as far as one that's intact.Our children,the arrows,become broken when we allow them to govern themselves.They become broken when we allow them to believe that other people in our lives are more important than they or that our love for them is conditional for any reason.This brings to mind a perfect example of what I mean.It involves a poor generational cycle involving a dear friend and her children.She was raised to believe that the men in her (single) mom's life came first, and she was a non factor unless the mother was unattached.She did not have a relationship with her biological father,and never could say with certainty who he was,as the mother was a puppet directed by the strings of her overbearing grandmother's influence.Due to the absence of this crucial male figure, this friend has spent many years in countless failed relationships trying to find love and acceptance from all the wrong men,in all the wrong places.She is a mother to two boys;On her own she raised them to be respectful and pleasant.Everyone loved her boys.However,she loved the attention and "respect" she recieved from dating "bad boys",and the "never last forever" cash flow she benefited from related to their street hustling.She often lied to cover up for these men,but would throw her own kids under the bus whenever they attempted to express how her behavior was affecting them.Because of her decision to put self first,allowing these negative characters to stain the moral fiber she tried so hard to instill,her eldest son is now a college dropout and a street pharmaceutical flunkie. Her once straight arrow had been broken because of the disregard she had for  maintaining his innocence, and from the way she allowed these "men" to glorify such a destructive lifestyle.
          Let's look at the tragedy that would become Amy Winehouse for a moment.Before she was known to the world,she was an arrow strong and unbendable thanks to the combined efforts of her closely knit family. It wasn't until she was introduced to the ever seducing and never gratifying fame monster,did her arrow begin to break shattering into a million sad pieces.Her arrow began to bend and break from the demons she was surrounded by, drugs, alcohol,and other arrows which had no real direction.
          If we want our children to stand straight and fly right,no matter the worldy influences,we must continue in our fight to strengthen,affirm and direct them.