Carl McCunn was a wildlife photographer from Texas. He decided to go to Alaska for an extensive photo shoot. He hired a bush pilot to take him into the remote Alaskan wilderness. With 500 rolls of film, 1400 pounds of food and other provisions, two rifles, and a shotgun he was very prepared. He had a complete strategy to enter the wilderness. His entrance strategy down pat.
6 months later a state trooper found McCunn’s lifeless body in his tent. The one thing he forgot cost him his life. What did he forget? His exit strategy. McCunn’s diary, which was found next to his body, said he failed to make specific arrangements to be picked up. McCunn wrote, ”I think I should have used more foresight about arranging my departure.” Now that’s an understatement! McCunn had a well thought out entrance strategy but no exit strategy.
As your children graduate from middle school and start high school, or graduate from high school and start college, make sure they begin with the end of the next stage of their lives in mind. They need to start with an exit strategy.
Here are 4 F’s you can share with your children to help them exit the next stage of their life well.
Faith
“Do I really believe that what I believe is true?” It’s the most important question your child must answer. Everything else your child does over the next few years will be determined by his or her answer to this question.
Family
Mark Twain once said: “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he’d learned in seven years.”
The fifth commandment tells you to “Honor your father and mother.” Honor your mother and father even if you think they’re ignorant, even if you don’t agree with their decision, even if you think they don’t understand, even if you think they don’t deserve it. Honor means respect their position of authority as your parent and obey them. So teach your child how to do that by honoring your parents in a meaningful way.
Friends
Share with your child they will have a lot of peer pressure in high school. Peer pressure can be a good thing…if it’s the right kind. If it’s pressure to do good.
Let them know that it’s critical to choose right peers who pressure them to do the right things. The first 10 days of school will be important in choosing friends. You need to ask your child questions like: Who will you hang out with? Who will you eat lunch with? Who will you play sports with? Encourage your child to find other students who believe what they believe and live like he or she lives.
Future
Want a bright future? The great apostle Paul said, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Do everything to please and honor God.
Paul also said, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart…” Do everything with excellence.
Challenge your child to do everything with excellence. Homework? Do it with excellence. Sports? Do it with excellence. Mowing the yard? Do it with excellence. Working? Do it with excellence.
Those are the 4 F’s that will help your child not just survive, but thrive through school and exit well—faith, family, friends, future.
In Jeremiah 29:11, God says to each of you, “For I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Carl McCunn did not have a plan. He was stuck in the wilderness with no way out. Carl McCunn did not have an exit strategy. You do, and you can share it with your child. It’s a strategy that will prosper your child, a plan that will give your child hope and a future.
