A few summers ago, my family and I were hiking in the Appalachian mountains.  It was fun, beautiful, serene even… except for my one daughter who really didn’t want to be there and somehow was the only one to acquire legit stinging nettle wounds that only reinforced her anti-everything adolescent mindset of the afternoon.  After stopping for a bite to eat and catching our breathe from a steep, off trail, climb my husband challenged us to, we got underway again.

With dogs running zig zag patte...

 “When do I step in and help?”.

This is a very common question for any parent or leader of youth.  It is so hard to sit on the side lines of someone’s life that you care for and have sacrificed for and NOT help when you see a struggle, but should you?  Maybe aaaannnnd… maybe not.

Any parent who has been to a sports event their child is participating in knows exactly how this feels.  They have been to practice for months, maybe years, been led and taught and then when the time comes to do...