Monday, April 12, 2010

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

6 comments:

Courtney said...

OH! Thank you for posting this!
I SO want my child to be brave...maybe sometimes to a fault.
I needed this word today.

Julie said...

I think about this all the time!

anthonyandbeth said...

i love this. so good.

Janet said...

so true. thanks for sharing; and happy belated birthday! looks like you had a wonderful day with the ones you love!

Cassie said...

love his perspective. LOVE it.

Kim said...

Yea too all of you am so excitted for. praise the lord......Love you all celebration , aunt kim