are we?

"Are we raising our children to be safe or to be brave? Are we raising our children to be smart or to be loving? Are we raising them to be successful or significant? How does God raise his children? In his book The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis made an observation that is worth lingering over. "Love," Lewis wrote, "is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness...Kindness merely as such cares not whether its object becomes good or bad, provided only that it escapes suffering." My vulnerabilities as a parent are such that sometimes I simply want my kids to escape suffering. But if I keep them completely safe, they will never have a chance to be truly good or brave. Is that what I want?"

Gary Haugen