Why Are Those People Still In The Water?

On our recent family vacation we were swimming at the beach. Everyone was having a great time! However, the sky in the distance began to turn dark and it looked like a storm was coming our way. I was watching it very carefully and trying not to let my anxiety deter from the fun my family was having. Then, I was pretty sure I heard thunder. I mentioned it to my husband, and he dismissed it as the garbage truck that just passed (he was probably right). This however, did make him aware of my concern and not even 15 minutes later he looks at me and says, "that was thunder." At that moment we calmly removed our children from the water and begin cleaning up our things. No worries, no hurry, just time to go.

Our middle daughter is our worrier. She worries about everything and has been known to cry about things that haven't even happened. (we are working with her, but this is who she is right now) After leaving the water, she becomes very distraught and begins moving with great haste. However, she is not satisfied knowing that our family is safe. She is becoming more and more concerned about the families still in the water. If we would have allowed her, she would have run up to them and started yelling "get out of the water!! a storm is coming!!" It seemed that every minute she was asking her father or I, "Why are those people still in the water?" I gave her several responses, but she was obviously not satisfied as she continued to ask over and over. Finally, my husband responded, "because they have free will to make their own choices, even if they are making the wrong one!" This silenced her for the moment. As we were driving away from the beach the local police drove through and told everyone to leave the beach. She could now relax.

This experience did provide us a wonderful dicussion starter for later in the day. Every single one of us has the free will to make choices. Sometimes we make wise choices and sometimes we make foolish choices. Many times, our foolish choices can come with some pretty serious consequences. We have actually been talking about this concept a lot lately, Our life has provided us with many opportunities to discuss choices and consequences.....a friends teen sister is pregnant, an Aunt is in jail, a neighbor is hurt, etc.

I think it is difficult for many people, especially children, to understand that their choices affect more than just themselves and so do the consequences. We have decided that it is important for our children to see this as young as possible. Here are some examples of conversations we have had in the past few weeks: "I know you want to sing sweetie, but you need to sing in the other room because your sister is using the computer to study." "I am really sorry that you lost your sunglasses in the lake, you probably should have left them in the car like we asked." "Yes dear, we are stopped on the freeway. It seems that someone wasn't paying attention and there has been an accident." "I am sorry that you don't have a clean bowl to use, it seems someone didn't do their chores." With each conversation we try to help our children see whom else the choice is affecting and to judge if they made a wise choice or a foolish one.

We pray that by helping them see the choices that they could have made and the positive or negative consequences that accompany their decisions that they will develop good judgement. That they will be able to look at the situation they are in and see what are both wise and foolish choices, see both positive and negative consequences and see whom their choice may affect. Can you just imagine what our days would be like if we were all able to take a few minutes and truly think before we acted? I know, I know, there are many times when I am the one standing there and people are asking "why is she still in the water?"

May God bless us as we try to stop and think before we act, and as we teach our children to do the same!