The hard realities

I experienced tremendous heartbreak last week as I watched one of our kids literally throwing his life away in front of my eyes. He didn't do anything with lasting implications, but he showed a side of himself I hadn't seen before - a side that will get him killed or locked up. I grabbed him by the throat, threw him against a tree, and stopped short of smashing his face in. I was a little bothered by my response but it comes from that instinctual place that pulls a toddler away from a lit stove. You just do what needs to be done.

Our kids, no matter how wonderful, are dealt a bad hand from jump street. For our kids to accomplish their dreams they must work harder, catch more breaks, fall into more grace, dodge more bullets, display greater restraint, eat more humble pie, bury more anger, and persevere to the Nth degree.

That's just the way it is. No amount of wishing will change these hard realities. And, inevitably, some will not make it in spite of their best efforts and those of the people who love them.