A few years ago my oldest son, Benjamin, and I got into archery. Never fear, the deer in the woods are safe. There is no chance of us hurting anything, I promise you. When we started, we were so bad that we missed the entire bale of hay.As I've learned more about archery, I've discovered there is much more to this sport than meets the eye. And in the process I've gained insight into Psalm 127:4, which describes children as "arrows." For example, did you know that even the best manufacturer cannot make a perfectly straight arrow? You can pay more than $15 apiece for arrows, and even they aren't perfect. In the same way, no parent can produce a perfect child. It's impossible.
Also, there are many factors that can influence an arrow after you release it-wind, trees, rain. But do these factors keep me from releasing the arrow? No, because arrows are not meant to stay in the quiver.
As we raise our children with the goal of releasing them into the world to live independently, we see the pressures and influence of a culture that is increasingly turning away from God. But children were given to us to be released.
And what is our target? Where are we aiming our children? Toward a lifetime of walking with God. No matter what factors try to influence them, they will be fine as long as we point them to the right target.
Many parents, however, have never considered where they are aiming their children. We did some research and found that more than 90 percent of parents said they had plans for raising their children, but were unable to clearly explain them. They didn't have the plans written down.
It was baseball great Yogi Berra who quipped, "If you don't know where you're going, you'll get there every time." Does that describe you as a parent?