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Authors: Shaunti Feldhahn
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picnic table. She gently pushed her to a sitting position, then straddled the bench and faced her friend. “Do you remember what you told me about seven or eight years ago, when you were debating whether to put Claire in Christian school?”
“I said that I wanted her out of the public school system after I found out that group was conducting assemblies on safe sex and abortion rights and such. She was only ten!”
“Right, but that wasn’t all. We had all made the same decision: We wanted our children to learn as much as they could without that sort of pressure and … do you remember what else?” She watched Barbara’s face closely. “We said we wanted to arm them with a solid Christian education before they went out into the world.”
Barbara laughed slightly, remembering. “I know. I just didn’t think that going out into the world would come so soon.” She made a face at Margaret’s sympathetic chuckle, slightly annoyed. “It’s all fine for you to say. Jeremy went to a Christian college!”
“Yes, but still, it’s college—and he’s out from under our wing, making his own choices.”
Tom came over and sat down on the bench opposite the two women. He looked at his wife. “Lord knows I wanted Claire to go to a Christian college more than anyone. I wanted some assurance that she wouldn’t make the same stupid choices that I had, and I figured Wheaton would give me that. But that wasn’t God’s plan.” Tom reached across the table and took Barbara’s hands. “We’ve always said that we were raising the kids to be salt and light in a decaying world, right? Well, at some point we have to let them go out into the darkness and trust God to care for them. After all, He’s had the harder job trusting us with them all these years. Us trusting Him should be a piece of cake.”
Barbara felt her husband gently stroking her fingers between his. Unexpectedly, her eyes grew red. She looked down at the table. “I know it should be. And I know we can’t all just cluster in our Christian colleges and churches and clubs. But—”
David set down the tray of cooked hamburgers. “You’ve said yourself, Barbara, that if all the Christians leave the public schools, leave the secular universities, that we’ve removed a major influence for positive change of exactly those things we’re tempted to run away from. If Christians remove themselves from society, we’re like candles glowing brightly in an already lighted room, while the darkness outside remains unchanged.”
“I understand that!” Barbara tried to keep her voice even. “And I believe it. Somebody needs to venture out into the darkness and light it up. I just don’t know that I want my baby to be the guinea pig.”
Tom continued rubbing her hands. “Honey, what you just said is wrong, and you know it. It’s not that somebody needs to be out there in the darkness; it’s that all of us do. I don’t like the idea of Claire being out there any more than you do, but we’ve trained her up in the way she should go, and we have to let God complete her training on the front lines. If there’s anything we should have learned by now, it’s that we need to learn how to confront the problems of the world head on, with God’s help.”
He made a self-deprecating face and turned to their friends. “I’ve always wanted to protect Claire, to insulate her. But when she said she wanted to go to Harvard, I finallyhad to stop and think. Maybe if I had been forced to deal with ‘real life’ earlier in my own life I wouldn’t have caused this family so much trouble.”
Barbara started to protest, but he shushed her. “You know what I mean.”
“I think,” Margaret said, “that you need to bring this up at home group on Thursday night and let everyone pray for you and for Claire. I know you’ve been praying a lot, but all your friends want to get in on the action. After all, we kind of feel that each others kids are our own.”
David finished
“I said that I wanted her out of the public school system after I found out that group was conducting assemblies on safe sex and abortion rights and such. She was only ten!”
“Right, but that wasn’t all. We had all made the same decision: We wanted our children to learn as much as they could without that sort of pressure and … do you remember what else?” She watched Barbara’s face closely. “We said we wanted to arm them with a solid Christian education before they went out into the world.”
Barbara laughed slightly, remembering. “I know. I just didn’t think that going out into the world would come so soon.” She made a face at Margaret’s sympathetic chuckle, slightly annoyed. “It’s all fine for you to say. Jeremy went to a Christian college!”
“Yes, but still, it’s college—and he’s out from under our wing, making his own choices.”
Tom came over and sat down on the bench opposite the two women. He looked at his wife. “Lord knows I wanted Claire to go to a Christian college more than anyone. I wanted some assurance that she wouldn’t make the same stupid choices that I had, and I figured Wheaton would give me that. But that wasn’t God’s plan.” Tom reached across the table and took Barbara’s hands. “We’ve always said that we were raising the kids to be salt and light in a decaying world, right? Well, at some point we have to let them go out into the darkness and trust God to care for them. After all, He’s had the harder job trusting us with them all these years. Us trusting Him should be a piece of cake.”
Barbara felt her husband gently stroking her fingers between his. Unexpectedly, her eyes grew red. She looked down at the table. “I know it should be. And I know we can’t all just cluster in our Christian colleges and churches and clubs. But—”
David set down the tray of cooked hamburgers. “You’ve said yourself, Barbara, that if all the Christians leave the public schools, leave the secular universities, that we’ve removed a major influence for positive change of exactly those things we’re tempted to run away from. If Christians remove themselves from society, we’re like candles glowing brightly in an already lighted room, while the darkness outside remains unchanged.”
“I understand that!” Barbara tried to keep her voice even. “And I believe it. Somebody needs to venture out into the darkness and light it up. I just don’t know that I want my baby to be the guinea pig.”
Tom continued rubbing her hands. “Honey, what you just said is wrong, and you know it. It’s not that somebody needs to be out there in the darkness; it’s that all of us do. I don’t like the idea of Claire being out there any more than you do, but we’ve trained her up in the way she should go, and we have to let God complete her training on the front lines. If there’s anything we should have learned by now, it’s that we need to learn how to confront the problems of the world head on, with God’s help.”
He made a self-deprecating face and turned to their friends. “I’ve always wanted to protect Claire, to insulate her. But when she said she wanted to go to Harvard, I finallyhad to stop and think. Maybe if I had been forced to deal with ‘real life’ earlier in my own life I wouldn’t have caused this family so much trouble.”
Barbara started to protest, but he shushed her. “You know what I mean.”
“I think,” Margaret said, “that you need to bring this up at home group on Thursday night and let everyone pray for you and for Claire. I know you’ve been praying a lot, but all your friends want to get in on the action. After all, we kind of feel that each others kids are our own.”
David finished
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