Choice and Accountability

Growing up my dad had about a hundred lectures that he would give to us kids. We had most of them numbered by frequency of the lecture. Lecture #1...Choice and Accountability. This one we heard the most. Whenever he would start this lecture I would roll my eyes or chuckle under my breath. But as I have grown I have learned to greatly appreciate that lecture. Right now a person very close to us is really struggling. It seems like he continues to make so many painful decisions that lead him down an extremely dangerous path. We keep thinking his choices couldn't get worse, but they do. It is the point of no return now and there are devastating consequences to his many bad choices. The problem is that now his choices aren't just affecting him, they are affecting everyone who loves him (including his kids). As I sit back and look at the wreckage he is leaving behind him my heart breaks. I could have just as easily been on the same destructive path. I chose a different way (after many of my own trial). Somewhere in the back of my mind was dad's old lecture # 1. I am so thankful to my dad for teaching me such an important lesson.