YOU BECOME WHO YOU’RE AROUND

I’m sure we’ve all heard the term you are what you eat. As a young person or a child you might be confused. If I accidentally eat a watermelon seed will I turn into a watermelon or will the watermelon grow in my belly? I remember deeply pondering this when I would eat a seed from a fruit or I would swallow my gum because I didn’t want to spit it out.

Now, as an adult that term still exists, but we understand it fully. We understand if that you eat too much of a certain food it may cause you to feel a certain way. Logic. But now there’s a phrase that is similar and it goes something like this, “you become who you hang around” or “you act like those around you.” 

I remember this transition happening when I was a teenager. Always wanting to fit in and be cool and do whatever the newest trends were. Let’s not talk about wanting feathers in our hair just because the popular girl did it. But now I see that this is even more crucially important in my own little family. Not only do I become what I eat, but I become like those who I hang around. And as an adult let alone a parent, this is important. If the people you are surrounding yourself with are not lined up with the goals and the intentions and the desires you have for life, they will do nothing but squander those dreams, squish them, talk down to you about them, or discourage you from keeping on in this race that you’ve been plugging along in. 

As an adult or a young married couple, this can be frustrating to find people who are like-minded. But as a parent, this is critical. 

Because not only do you become like them, but your children will also become like their children and act like them as well. 

I’m not saying to ditch anyone who you don’t agree with on the littlest things. But I’m saying surround yourself with the ones that you know you can trust to be around your child alone. Ones who will give them the good foundation of God‘s word, and not twists words in any way, shape or form. The ones you know who will protect them with their life and not compare them constantly to their children or make your child feel less than. The ones who treat your child as their own. 

These are the people in my circle. These are the people I am constantly striving to find. These are the ones that I want by my side.