Once upon a time

We all love stories and as soon as we hear, “Once upon a time…” we’re hooked. So with the start of a new school year, let’s revisit a familiar tale.

Once upon a time in a land far away, a father was devastated to learn that soon after the birth of his one and only precious child a curse was placed upon her life. Now, this curse predicted his only child and daughter would perish as a result of contact with an object inside the very walls of his own home.

This loving father who was also the ruler over the kingdom quickly decided to use his power and his authority to remove every possible source of the curse. He removed not only what was in his home but also any source of contamination and curse throughout the land. He destroyed much in his desperate effort to protect his child’s life.

You may recognize this tale from Sleep Beauty. You may also recall that no matter the level of diligence and protection this father put into place, his child, like so many of our own children, his child found the path, found the one unlocked room, the one place not prepared that led to her death. 

Comparisons can break down but this story does represent a question we must decide as parents.

Do we prepare the path or do we prepare the person? 

Mary Gunther

We like to think we are preparing the person however often we default to path preparation. Perhaps you’ve already experienced that it is not possible to prepare every path that our children will encounter. It’s not possible for us to vet every friend or guide every conversation and the introduction of smartphones makes any expectation to be present beyond realistic. We cannot control every path our child travels. 

Who do you relate to in this story? The father so focused on the curse that he neglects to empower his child to navigate the risk. Or perhaps the child who just needed to explore the places parents can’t get to. Does any of this sound like you? 

It’s disappointing and heartbreaking as parents to see our student leave home and end up leaving their faith because they weren’t prepared to face a future we couldn’t recognize.

It’s back to school time in the United States. As parents, we feel so hopeful at the start of the new academic year that this will be key to their future. My short video shares what I am investing in to get students ready for their future.

So how about you? How do you prepare your students?  What questions do we need to ask ourselves to be ready so we can get them ready? What have you done to get them ready for their future? I’d love to learn from your experiences.