Due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to switch the location of our church youth group’s Back to School Bash from the church property to our house. Because we intended to include games of water balloons and shaving cream, which of course ultimately turned into a free for all, we had to clean up the backyard before the chaos began. I swept the back patio and picked up the errant odds and ends scattered around the area. I thought that perhaps the students might end up in our playset’s fort as part of the games, so I climbed the ladder with my broom and swept out the leaves and debris from the fort. 

None of us had been up in the fort in a long time. We’ve had the playset with slide and swings for at least fifteen years, but now that the kids are older, the playset doesn’t get much use. When I got up on the ladder, I realized the playset is not in the best shape anymore. The wood is extremely dry. I’m not sure any amount of stain could revive the poor wood. The wooden beams that hold the monkey bars are warped. The bolts in several places looked like they were on their way to rusting. I couldn’t see all the wear and tear from the ground level. The view from the top was not good.

Even though my kids haven’t used it as much as they did when they were little, the playset has been sacred to me. We’ve never discussed taking it down because in my mind, it is a tribute to the kids’ childhoods. And somewhere in the back of my head, I thought maybe their children would use the playset in the future. But I don’t know that the playset will make it until we have grandbabies big enough to use it since we are still years away from that reality. For the first time, I reconsidered my stance on the playset. Should we take it down?

I admit that my heart ached a little at the prospect. I worried that the actual removal would make me sad, so I haven’t discussed it with Ben or the kids yet. But seeing the playset from a different perspective made me rethink my strong conviction that the playset should never be removed. 

Sometimes we face a new way of viewing things or find new information that makes us question things we thought were not up for debate. When we encounter a different perspective, we have a choice: reconsider our stance or dig in our heels. If we take time to analyze the new data, we may end up right where we started, upheld in our beliefs. If we aren’t open to reevaluating our opinions, however, we may miss an opportunity to grow and change. Our beliefs may be shallow if they remain unexamined. Especially if we refuse to hear others’ stories and experiences, we will not mature in our understanding of our communities or the world.      

I’m not sure if the playset will stay or go because to me, it is still symbolic of my kids’ childhoods. Now, it also serves as a reminder to me that we need to reevaluate our convictions when presented with new information. We may be surprised at how much we still need to learn.