Congratulations to Abby Sunderland

All the criticism surrounding the parents of Abby Sunderland has got me thinking. I'm thinking about my upcoming trip to Guatemala. Is it too dangerous? Possibly, I've been told most every store has armed guards at the door. Angela has warned me that when we get off the plane there will be hundreds of men behind barricades yelling for us to ride with them or use their phone. There will also be lots of men with ak47s or some sort of machine guns. Of course, people get shot here in Kentucky all the time. Just watch the local news for the first ten minutes, it will be full of shootings, stabbings, and other crimes. Is there a chance of mother nature becoming agitated? Earthquakes? Volcanoes? Hurricanes? Well I believe recent news reports have answered those questions. Those things could happen here (well except the volcano). The New Madrid fault lies just west of Kentucky. I could be eating Barbecue in Western Kentucky with my family and be swallowed up by the earth before I even order my peach cobbler. I'm sure the folks camping in Arkansas had no idea their campground was going to turn into rushing river waters in the middle of the night. The truth is, I could die or be killed in any number of ways. I could get hit by a car walking out my back door. The way my seventeen year old pulls into the driveway, it's not that inconceivable! Hey we're all going to go sometime right? Chances are it's not going to be some way really cool like being swallowed up by a giant sink hole. I've always wanted to just spontaneously combust, that way there would be no body to have to deal with, no funeral fees or burial plot - just natures way of cremation. I'll probably end up in a hospital bed full of tubes and wires going out the one way I don't want to, hanging on for dear life (no pun intended). I'm getting off subject though...
Do I think I'll die in Guatemala? Of course not. Who in their right mind would plan a trip of a lifetime and more importantly finance that trip thinking they were going to get there just to die? That's just stupid.
So this is why I find myself defending Abby Sunderland's parents. ( I knew I had a point to this story). They would have never sent their daughter out to conquer her dream if they thought she might die. They must of believed she could do it and for that I not only defend them, I praise them.
In this world of 5 tv homes, video game crazed kids and boring lives the Sunderlands challenged their kids to get up and go live life. To participate to the fullest, to work hard and actually try to accomplish awesome goals. While most of us are sitting on our overweight bums watching reality tv, these kids were out actually living.
Most of you know I have big dreams for my kids. I've mentioned hundred of times that I want Flynn to be a National Geographic explorer. I hope I'm the parent that can not only encourage his hopes and dreams but also help him accomplish them, even if that means I make the difficult decision of letting him go.