Arrows

HOW WILL THEY FLY?

Psalms 127:4-5  Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth.  Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.

As my kids are getting older I have been thinking more about their inevitable final “release”.  How will they “fly”?  Will they “hit the target” that I have aimed them at?  What exactly is the target that I am aiming them at?

As fathers we have been given the responsibility to aim and direct our family to the path of our heavenly father.  So how do we “aim” our children towards the Lord?

Let’s think about each child as an arrow in our quiver and how each of these arrows are different. They are different in lengths, they have different types of fletching, and they are made from different materials such as aluminum, steel, carbon fiber, or wood.   Would these arrows all fly the same way when released?  Obviously not, so how then will we ever be confident in releasing them at a target and knowing how they will fly towards it?  Especially a target that is far out in the distance?

You and I both know that each and every single child is different, even if they are twins.  Each person is uniquely made by God with a personality of their own.  As fathers it should be one of our biggest priorities to learn how each of our children are “made”.  We must know this in order to know how to aim them towards the target.  We also must release them to know how they will fly.  You have to release several times, at shorter distances, in order to see what their tendencies actually are.  Then you have an idea of how to correct your aim before releasing them at further targets.  

For example, if you have 4 arrows as described above, with different characteristics, and arrow #1 has a tendency to hit 4 inches low each time you release it at the center of the target, you would then want to aim 4 inches above the center in order to get it to hit as close as possible to the center of the target.  Likewise, if arrow #2 tended to hit 6 inches to the right each time, then you would adjust when shooting that arrow by aiming it 6 inches to the left of the target each time.  

Our children are no different than this example.  The objective as a father should be for us to know both the positive and negative attributes of each child.  Then lead and guide them accordingly.  Start by releasing at short distances, then observe how they “fly”, then adjust before making that “final release”!