PARENT NEWS
September 4, 2026
I’ll give you a little insight into a night at the Meester house.
When the fall church activities kick-off event was finished, we all settled in to watch this week’s episode of Ted Lasso. Last week, I shared my fondness for the show and the powerful lessons of leadership it shares on a weekly basis.
As we processed together what we had just seen, our conversation went down several rabbit trails, often propelled by the events of the day at school for our son, my wife, and me. Our daughter kicks in observations from her job searching and the people she has encountered on that journey as well.
Eventually, we took up the topic of repentance and reconciliation.
Weird, right? But I promise it felt normal to us.
We were talking about how to mentor young people in their understanding and practice of how to make things right after they’ve disrespected someone, behaved poorly, or hurt someone else.
It can be really tough to learn to apologize or take ownership for our behavior. It doesn’t feel good when other people point out our shortcomings or hold us accountable, and in some respects, it feels maybe even worse to do that to ourselves.
We don’t like falling short.
Our pastor preached a sermon on the parable of the Prodigal Son last week, and I was reminded of an article I read about that parable. The author was recalling the times in church when he would be praying a silent prayer of confession, only to be interrupted by the pastor wrapping things up for everyone and assuring them of God’s forgiveness.
The author compared that feeling to the story of the Prodigal Son. The young man knew he had sinned and was heading home to repent . . . but before he could even finish the journey and get the words out, his father came rushing out to meet him and welcome him back home.
I like approaching children that way too.
We don’t expect young people to have perfectly formed faith practices. They are still learning and trying after all. So when a student shows a step in the right direction toward repentance—when I can tell that they want to do the right thing and reconcile with whoever they have hurt—I like to rush toward them in grace and forgiveness to make sure they know that one mistake doesn’t define them. They are welcome back into the family, so to speak.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t still consequences for destructive behavior, but it does mean that one poor choice doesn’t have to keep our relationships permanently broken. That’s what the Lord does for us, and hopefully we can mentor our children into people who do the same for others.
I know that probably seems like a lot for a Wednesday night family discussion, but that’s just how we roll, I guess.
Together,
Dan Meester
Executive Director
