Have we done enough?
Spring promises to be a busy time in our house. Karen will graduate from the University of the Cumberlands; Jordan will turn 18 and graduate from North Bullitt High School. As Jordan finishes high school and spends his last summer as a kid, I wonder have we done enough to prepare him for college and for adulthood. There is a small window of time left to teach him some things he will need to know before he goes off to make his way in the world.
While by no means is this an exhaustive list, here are a few things that Gina and I as parents and we as a church family need to “make sure” they know before our students head off to college.
Practical things- As I picture Jordan heading off this fall with that 2006 electric blue Nissan Altima loaded down with his clothes, two things enter my mind. One-does he know how to wash those clothes. For years they have been tossed into a clothes hamper and set in the hall on wash day. Okay, they have been tossed on the floor then put in the hamper to set in the Hall on wash day. Does he know how to separate lights from dark, cold from hot? And Two-can he do the simple checkups on his car? Is he comfortable, checking the oil, air pressure in the tires, can he change the bulb in the tail light?
Financial things- Have a taught him how to budget his money? I am terrible with this. He all ready has a better understanding of finances than I did at his age. But does he know how to save, how to balance a checkbook, how to spend wisely?
Spiritual things-I remember when he was a small boy in a high chair and took the spoon to fed himself for the first time. It was a big day. It was messy and it brought a whole new set of concerns as he then had a little more control over what he ate and how much he ate. I wonder, as he graduates High School and heads of to the University, if we have taught him how to feed himself spiritually. Have we taught him and showed him how about the spiritual disciplines? Does he know the importance of having a daily quiet time, praying with passion, journaling? Have we taught him how to defend his faith, or at least know heresy when he hears it? From the observations I have made traveling the state most youth ministries spoon feed spiritual truths to students until they graduate the youth ministry. Our students are taking AP English and Advanced Calculus and we are still teaching scripture to them like they are in the second or third grade. Have we taught him enough to be strong in his faith as a young adult?
Church things-I intentionally separated this from spiritual things. While they are interconnected, they are not the same thing. It is amazing to hear parents talk about their students that had went off to college and how the adjustment was going. They talk about roommates, grades, friends made, fraternity/sororities that had been pledge but very little about where they had gotten plugged into a local church. There are plenty of churches all across the state that has excellent college/young adult ministries. When we took Karen to Cumberland and moved her in on Saturday we stayed over to Sunday and went to church with her that morning. I think it set the tone of expectation, plus it gave us a few more hours with her before we had to pull out and head home.
It is April and in four months this year’s senior class heads out into the world to make their mark. There is still time for us to prepare them for what is ahead, but that time is gr owing short.
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posted by: Joe Ball on April 7th, 2009
