Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Anyone who's watched a sapling grow into a tree knows the shape of the trunk gets set early. This proverb says something similar about people — that what gets planted in a child's early years tends to hold, even decades later.
If you grew up around faith, or without it, or with some confusing mix of both, you already know how true this can feel. The things you absorbed before you were old enough to question them are still in there somewhere, shaping how you react to the world even now.
That's not a guilt trip aimed at parents, and it's not a promise with no exceptions — people surprise this proverb all the time. But it is an honest observation about how deep early formation runs, and maybe an invitation to notice what actually got planted in you, and whether it's still something you'd choose.
If you're curious what it would mean to choose your own foundation now, rather than just inherit one, that's a question worth following.
A short video on this is coming soon — for now, read on.