Adolescence

Adolescence

"And when He (Jesus) became twelve...sitting in the midst of teachers (at the temple)...And all who heard  Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers...He continued in subjection to them (parents)...And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men (Luke 2:42, 47, 51, 52 NASB)."

Definition: The transitional period between puberty and adulthood: youth (Dictionary.com)

As parents we wonder: when is it time to widen the boundaries for my child? How do I know they are ready to transition into adulthood? Children usually lean toward sooner and parents usually lean toward later, but either way we must address this individually since our current society does not have a hard fast graduation out of pubescence. If culturally when a boy turned 14 years old we gave him a small knife and a loin cloth and left him in the wilderness for a week to prove his manhood, and that is just the way things worked, we might have less of these questions. But for us, is it 14, 16, 18, when they go to college or when they finally move out that our culture graduates youth? The answer is yes and no. Some kids leave before they are ready and some parents keep hold of ready adults. Some are not ready for adulthood in their late 20's and some show signs of readiness in their early teens. What do we do? We need to do 2 things: ready our child and ready ourselves to let them go. The scripture above may help us. Train our child to be like Jesus: He had understanding and knowledge, He was able to handle Himself well among adults, He was doing the right things, He had the proper motivation for His future and understood His calling, but He also understood honor and subjected Himself to His parents. Even though He was "ready" He waited until His parents were ready and continued to increase in wisdom and stature. As parents we prepare ourselves: His parents gave leeway for His maturity level in that they didn't micro manage Him, that is how He got left behind (Luke 2:44) and His mom listened to Him and considered His response to her correction as a treasure, not a nuicance (Luke 2:51). A child should know they will move on one day, and we as parents should be the first to verbally recognize maturity in our kids to help prepare everyone for that inevitable time of transition.

Prayers: We pray for strength and purpose to be in our child, so any distraction or block will be personally overcome.

We pray for "respect, responsibility and resourcefulness" (the big 3 John Rosemond) to be developed early and grow until self esteem, honor and trust in You proves our child's readiness for adulthood.

Please help us hit the mark of preparation by encouraging maturity and letting our child go into Your capable hands.
Thank You Lord for Your help and blessings.