09/22/2026
I Love This...
LET THE WIND BLOW
Our instinct as parents, whether natural or an influence of our society, is to protect our children from all hurt. This urge can be carried to extremes and actually hurt our children, both in the present and future.
Children can be compared to a young tree sapling; vigorous, seeking, rooted, growing to reach higher and wider, and developing branches and leaves to gather in more of the universe around them. Young trees develop many different kinds of cells which make up different parts of the tree. There are bark cells, leaf cells, cells for water transport tubes, and root cells. But there is a very special kind of cell that grows only while the tree is young. These cells grow below the bark and provide structures which strengthen the tree and allow it to bend without breaking. The growth of these cells and structures is stimulated by the bending action of the tree when the wind blows. These cells do not develop effectively if the tree is tethered down by wires during its youth.
When the tree is tethered too much in its youth and not allowed to bend when the wind blows as it matures, it is certain that this tree is weak and will break during the first real storm. In order for our young saplings to grow properly to maturity, we must plant them in the best supportive family structure we have available to us, feed them, support [not tie down!] them as needed, and give them the room, the sunshine, and the freedom to grow to maturity.
If we are wise enough to do this, our young saplings will not break when the first windstorm hits their lives. Young trees can take a little wind and will surprise us by the directions and amounts that they can bend. For the mature trees not tethered down in their youth, life’s storms might blow off the leaves and even break a branch, but their strength will carry them through and allow them to continue growing. If we tie our young saplings too tightly and not allow the breezes to bend them in their youth, they will grow up weak and without the strength to withstand the storms that will surely come screaming out of the future at them. And we may be too old, gnarled, or stiff to bend down and support them.
Let the wind blow!!
