Earlier this week, I had a conversation with a hurting dad. He had taken his family on vacation. They had big plans, and were planning on enjoying a few days away from the routine. But the very first night, his oldest daughter ran away. All of a sudden, vacation turned into crisis.

The family returned home, the police started searching, the next day, the girl was found and brought home. She did it again later that week. Only this time, her parents knew where she went, and were in communication with the parents of the friend she was staying with.

I don’t know all the specifics of this family’s home situation. I don’t have any idea why this happened. Nor do I need to know. What I do know is this: this dad was hurting. His daughter was making some poor choices and it was very painful for the rest of the family.

I had the opportunity to visit with this dad a few evenings ago. I’m not sure anything I said helped him very much. But it was obvious that his daughter’s decisions were hurting him. And he was facing some tough decisions: How should he respond… harshly? or with love? What sort of punishment was necessary? What changes needed to be made to prevent this from happening again?

I don’t know if he was actually thinking all those things. I know I would have been. And I would have been questioning my role as a father. Could I have done anything to prevent this? Did I fail somehow?