I realized that I was investing in our children for life, not just until the time they could get out on their own. This meant that my wife and I would see them not only through high school but also through college. We believed it was our God-given responsibility to guide them in choosing a college where the principles we had tried to train them by would continue to be taught them. We had made important decisions for the children all the while they were growing up and did not feel that we could leave one of life's most important and life-shaping choices to our high school students. Young people of that age often bend to the pressure of friends to choose an inferior school for many reasons other than spiritual ones.
Teenagers are also confused if given many college catalogs and asked to make a choice.
It is a great temptation to choose a school close to home regardless of the standards or quality of education. But today she never ceases to thank us for insisting that she go. We prayed that through her testimony her brothers and sisters would naturally follow. The Lord worked it out that way. Since we had promised Him that we were willing to make whatever sacrifice was necessary to see them through, He worked through many circumstances.