Parenting Adults

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 3 John 1:4 KJV

I heard someone say that once our children grow up, we are either parents to adult children or parents to children who are adults…

How strange it is to parent an adult child. While still dependent on me for many aspects of life, I can’t quite say: do this, do that. The older we are, the older our children become, the more we have to trust God, pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV), and rely on what they’ve learned throughout the years…

It doesn’t nullify the difficult times, tests, and trials they will face. They will slip, just like we did, they will fall, but that’s not the end of the story! Just like it wasn’t for us.

I think my greatest life lesson and the lesson I want to ensure I pass onto my children is that, when we fall, we can get back up and back in line. We serve a loving, merciful and compassionate God.

A passage that has guided my parenting along – of children, teenagers, and now this journey with an adult child – is Jude 1:22-23: And of some have compassion, making a difference: and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

For some, all it takes is love, understanding, grace – to make a difference. Others must literally be pulled out of the fire.