Excerpt from an excellent article I came across:
After some small talk, I probed deeper: "Can I try a question out on you?" He was ready to cooperate: "Sure." "Here's my question," I continued, "What do you want o be able to say about them when they are thirty?"
"Wow," he remarked. There was silence for a few moments. "I've never thought that far into the future. College-educated, I guess – and in a good career … happily married …"
"Let me ask a different question." He wasn’t going where I wanted him to. "What would cause you to grieve if you have to say it about them when they are thirty?"
"Oh … if they are lost." His answer was the first indication to me that I was talking to a Christian dad. After a pause, he kept on: "And if I had to say that they had failed morally … or are addicted to something …"
I probed further. "Which of my questions is the more important question?"
"Oh … for sure, the second one."
"Do you know when you have the best opportunity to impact the answer?"
"No, when?" He was now fully engaged.
"Before they are twelve. Do you know that the major attitudes of life are formed by then? And the basic foundations for decision-making are in place before the teen years?"
I could tell I had his attention, so I zeroed in for the kill. I raised the intensity of my voice: "You mean your specialty at work is developing strategy for companies and helping them set vision, but you've never thought of doing that for your own children?"
To read the entire article, go here: Shooting Arrows
