She waited in the tower overlooking the beautiful landscape. She could see a beautiful straight paved road with a large lake on one side and a beautiful green, but dark forest on the other. All three led straight to the tower, but everyone who made the attempt was either too tired to make the climb or was too tired to help her down once they made it up.

She lived with her Father and enjoyed her home, but often imagined being outside of the tower; desiring to enjoy the outdoors. On many occasions, she tried to get down herself, but it was so exhausting, she would climb back up again; she knew she would need help getting down.

Since she was so high up, she could clearly see they all led straight to her and couldn’t imagine why helping her down was so difficult. It seemed every time someone would walk the road, by the time they reached the tower they were too tired to climb it and they would turn back. Or if someone crossed the lake, they would have the strength to climb tower, but not enough to safely guide her down. The forest was a lost hope…every time someone walked into the forest, they never seemed to come out. She wondered if she would ever get to experience the beautiful outdoors up close.

One day, she asked her Father, “Daddy, you designed our beautiful land and tower. Why would you make it so difficult for me to get down? Don’t You want me to enjoy all of our land?” Her Father sat her down and explained, “You are so  precious to Me. I want to be sure you are safe once you make it out of the tower, so I created 3 paths:

“The first is the beautiful straight paved road. It may be the easiest of the 3, but those who choose it, will not have the strength to climb the tower. And honestly, if they don’t have the strength to climb up, I wouldn’t feel safe you being with them.

“The second is the lake. You know that if someone crosses the lake, they have the strength to climb up, but are not strong enough to help you down. I know that is frustrating to you, but the ones who make the effort to cross the lake and come visit you, are the ones who have become your greatest friends. Those you cherish.”

“Finally,” He said, “I grew a forest. What you don’t see about the forest is that there are 3 dragons in it. Each one larger and more dangerous than the last.” She listened intently to her Father still wondering why He had made it so difficult. “You see, I know once you leave the tower, you will not want to return. It is just that beautiful. However, I also know it can be dangerous. So, if you are to leave the tower, I could only trust you with the one who could slay all 3 dragons, climb the tower and still have the strength to carry you down. He would prove himself to, not only know how amazing you are to want to make the journey, but know how to cherish you because of the lengths he went through to reach you.”

As she listened to her Father, she imagined all of those who had gone into the forest, but never came out. “But what about all those who never came out of the forest?” “They were brave enough for the attempt, but unfortunately, were not well equipped for the task at hand.” He replied.

She was beginning to understand that although it was taking much longer than she anticipated, she knew that her Father loved and had her best interest at heart. So, instead of waiting on someone to finally slay the dragons and make it through the forest, she decided to enjoy the time she had with her Father and those friends who made it across the lake and up the tower to see her. Knowing one day, she would be able to enjoy the beautiful outdoors…not having to worry about any threat that may come, because she would have her own personal dragon slayer!