There was a time when my Lil Abner (ok, not so little any more) wanted so bad to make a choice all on his own. Well, as a "wise" parent, I could obviously see where that decision would take the little tyke. But, we also knew he needed to make choices so that he could grow as aperson. So, Mammy Yokum and I, being the devious, yet caring parents, devised upon a scheme to cajole poor Abner into our way of thinking.
Our plan was to just leave little hints here and there about the value of making the choice our way. However clever this may sound, what it has done is produce the feeling in Abner that his only option is to choose our way - anything else will bring disappointment from his parents. Now, what kind of choice does he really have? In our efforts to help Abner develop his decision making skills, we have instead taken away his agency to choose and forced our own agenda upon him.
Freedom of choice is one of the most important of God's gifts to his children. Pappy Yokum's advice is that you do your part to ensure that your own children get to properly exercise that gift.
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Pappy- Fisrt, Lil Abner is at least a full generation away from our generation. Second, I fail to see the resemblance between you and your alter-blog ego.
Third, allowing children to chose for them selves is just crazy talk. Just look at where free agency has landed each of us (by the way, mom said it was okay for me to write all this but I had to make it short because she still needs to help me pick out my church clothes for tomorrow).
Reality check- glad life is not really that way. Mom always encouraged me to make my own choices based on what I knew and felt. How else would I end up in a place so foreign?
It can be a hard road for parent and child alike, but the rewards and payoffs are well worth it...like anything worth while.
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