Cheri collapsed on the park bench near the monkey bars as her two vibrant children darted toward the playground. After retrieving a power bar and juice from her backpack, she sat back to enjoy a few treasured moments with her novel, while keeping one eye on the playground.

Moments later, she was jarred out of the make-believe world in her novel by what smelled like a dirty diaper, as a woman and her son piled their belongings on the other end of the bench. While the woman appeared quite normal, her son was a different story. His clothes were caked with dirt, his hair matted, and his skin looked as if he had been rolling in mud. When he smiled at her she could see his teeth were black and his gums bleeding. He scratched incessantly (as if he were a flea-infested dog) as he finished his candy bar and wandered over to the playground.

Not knowing quite what do say Cheri engaged in a few minutes of small talk before commenting, “I noticed your son was wearing a sweater. Does he usually wear sweaters all year long?”

“Oh, that,” the woman replied with a chuckle, “I don’t know why he does that. He does a lot of things I wouldn’t do.”

“Do you mean, you don’t try to influence his choices?” queried Cheri.

“Of course not,” snapped the woman defensively. “My husband and I swore not to push our beliefs on our children. We are going to let them grow up and make their own choices. My son doesn’t like to bathe, brush his teeth, or wear clean clothes. We don’t feel like we should push our preferences on him. When he gets older, he can decide for himself.”

At first, the concept just shared by this stranger was stupefying. How could a parent not impose their beliefs about personal hygiene and safety on their child. Most people would consider that approach to be irresponsible, at least, and child abuse, at most. Then it dawned on her, this was a philosophy she had heard many parents verbalize over the years – only from a slightly different angle. She had heard parents say, “We don’t take our kids to church or force our values on them. We are going to let them figure out what they believe when they get older. Of course, the philosophy is silly in both cases. If God is real and our moral choices dictate our future, then it would be negligence not to share with our children what we know about God and the moral choices they must make. 

I am so thankful for the many truths my parents taught me, even before I knew how to speak. Their wisdom and values saved me from many painful mistakes and introduced me to a loving God at a young age. They left room for me to make choices as I grew older, but I made most of the same choices they would have made, because the wisdom they shared with me proved to be the best advice available. They taught me how to live, and I will be forever grateful.