I can’t remember when I first heard it, but there’s an old, oft quoted anecdote that I love. A father and his son entered the dean’s office at the university the younger man was to enter. The father told the dean that he wanted his son to graduate as quickly as possible so as to embark on his career. “How fast can we make it happen?”, he asked. The dean paused and said, “Sir, when God wants to make a squash, He takes three months. When He crafts an oak tree, He takes 100 years. Which would you like your son to be?”

I love that! We live in a culture where we glorify speed and expediency, with character and process often being overlooked. We don’t want to wait for anything, which is why we have mounting debt, financial scandal, unwanted pregnancies and any number of other consequences.

This blog isn’t here to bash those making expedient decisions….I make them too. I just hope we can encourage each other to take the longer view – making oak trees, not squash. I hate squash….