The rites of passage

August 7, 2007

By John W. Kennedy

I’m enjoying parenting more now that my sons are adults. During this phase of life I no longer need to fight battles about getting a tattoo, whether a certain compact disc is satanic, or the hour of a curfew.

Now my oldest son, Josh, is seeking my advice about buying a house and purchasing a car. He borrowed our van recently to haul some new outdoor furniture and I drove his car back home. What musician was playing on the CD player? Eminem? No, Louis Armstrong.

After being married for five years and living in an apartment, Josh has just purchased his first house and is about to graduate with a teaching degree.

My wife, Patty, and I have grown closer to Josh and his wife since they moved. They have had us over repeatedly for barbecues, as Josh is able to play chef on a gas grill for the first time. We’ve watched baseball games on their TV and played croquet in their back yard. Now that Josh is in his 20s, it’s nice to relate to him as an adult.

We’re flattered that our children are seeking our advice, but grateful Josh has reached a point of maturity on his own: relinquishing his annual habit of buying Kansas City Chiefs football season tickets.

Proverbs 22:6 advises, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it” (NIV).

Christian parents need to do their part and raise their children in a godly environment and pray they turn out all right. But we need to remember that children have free wills. I know many godly men and women whose children have strayed, despite the longsuffering prayers of their parents.

We hope that, even as adults, all our children will value our opinions on financial, medical and especially spiritual matters.

Josh’s first house is one of life’s milestones. His first career job will follow soon. That doesn’t mean there won’t be rough spots and crises as he heads his family. One of these days he’ll be having battles with his own children, and I pray he is prepared.

John W. Kennedy is news editor of Today’s Pentecostal Evangel.