Adulting; May the Lord Teach Us How





Adulting: Taking on adult responsibilities.
 

Psalm 143:7-8

Answer me quickly, O Lord;
    my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
    or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
    for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
    for to you I lift up my soul.

 

 Making the transition from teen-ager to adult can be a bit scary for many. Graduation from High School and prospects of either further education and/or learning to care for and support themselves can be daunting.

 

My granddaughter, who is a teen working on this transition, taught me a new word this past week. It is adulting. I laughed when I first heard her use it. I thought she had made it up. But, I checked the Urban Dictionary and it appears to be a word that is being used today. Adulting is when a young person begins to take on things that would be considered adult-like. These might be things as simple as getting out of bed on time without anyone having to wake them up or filling out a job application without assistance. Of course, this is a process; and, the training of a young person to make this transition should actually begin at birth. But, that jump from teen to adult is not always easy even for those who have been adulting (bearing the responsibilities of an adult) for many years.

 

My granddaughter is actually a bit shy around people she does not know well. But, she is learning that if she ever wants to be independent of me; she will have to break out of that shell and quickly.

 

The psalmist prayed that the Lord would teach him the way that he should go. This is my prayer for all of our young people. That the Lord would be with them; guiding them in His Way as they learn how to be mature and fruitful adults. It is not easy to make that transition from teen to adult. Aging is a process that cannot be stopped. Prayerfully, as we all age, we will also all grow and mature in Christ. May God be with our young people as they learn to follow in the way that He would have them go.

God's Peace - Pr. J

1 John 2:3-11 First Comes Like

1 John 2:3-11 NIV

In any relationship, for us to believe and trust someone, we must get to know about someone. Recently, I saw a commercial that I actually like. It was a Zoosk commercial "Love does not comes first. First comes like."  I liked it because I know more than a few teen-agers (and at leas a few adults) who should really pay attention to this. Before genuine enduring love occurs, we must first get to know one another and actually learn to like each other despite all those little things we might not appreciate so much. Genuine love grows as we get to know about each other. There might be a whole lot less break-ups and divorces if we spent more time learning to like each other before we commit ourselves to loving and living with someone forever.

Our relationship with God is not so very different. In order to say that we truly love Him, we first must get to know Him. When we get to know about Him, love will come in the getting to know Him and what He has done for us. We do that by reading His word in the Holy Scriptures; gathering together to hear His Word in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ; by receiving Jesus in the Sacraments; and by spending time talking with Him in prayer.

Get to know God our Father; walk with God the Son; take the time to listen to the Holy Spirit and then your love will be made complete.

God's Peace - Pr. J

James 1:1-18 Perseverance and Tests!

James 1:1-18 NIV
Testing produces perseverance. Without perseverance we will not grow into maturity.

It is that time of year when many of our young people will complete another year of school. Some will graduate from High School or College. There will be using what they have learned throughout the preceding years to establish their lives as adults. Many have rejoiced as each challenge, each test, was conquered. They grew in knowledge and wisdom through perseverance. They matured. They will live full and fruitful lives. 

Others who may not have any desire to face these tests and rather than persevering in their studies just ignored them or ran may well find that they have more growing left than they bargained for. Simply put; they will not be prepared for the day that they have longed for so deeply. They will, one day, realize that there was a reason for all those tests.

James, the brother of Jesus writes, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

When a Christian faces tests, we are to persevere with joy. We accept the challenge. We prepare for it. We don't try to ignore it or try to run from it as we know that it will help us to learn and to grow to maturity; to the fullness of Christ.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Hebrews 1 - Ministering Angels

Hebrews 1 NIV

One of my most often used prayers for little children is that the Lord would send his warrior angels to guard and protect them. As I lay my hands on their heads and pray for them, I can see their little faces just light up with hope. Their parents' faces usually light up as well. You see, the world can get pretty yucky for adults; but, for many children it can be most horrendous. Children need protection. Many live in fear, sometimes in fear of their parents. All it takes is to watch or read the local news and we see verification for their many fears. Most of them probably do not even understand the whole reality of the dangers that are out their lurking for them. Am I a pessimist when it comes to the world? In some regards, most probably. But, I have hope in the Kingdom of God and the one who rules that Kingdom, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

There is hope. We have hope and salvation, spoken to us by God's firstborn Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. Included in that universe are the angels, whom He made to be ministering spirits, sent to serve all who would inherit salvation.

First and foremost we have the Son who lives and reigns at the right hand of the Father. He is with us always, overseeing all that goes on in our lives. He sends his angels to minister to those who believe. And... by the looks on the faces of the little children, they believe. Even as the angels ministered to Jesus (Matt 4:11), they are sent to minister us. We do not pray to them. Our trust is in not in the angels; rather, it is in God, our Father, and our Lord Jesus the Christ who has directed them to minister to all of God's children.

May all God's little children be protected from the evil, harm and trouble that surrounds them as they are filled with the hope of salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Ezekiel 18 - Sins of our Parents

 “Yet you ask, ‘Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?’ Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.
 “But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die." (Ezekiel 18:19-21 NIV)

“You shall have no other gods before me.

 You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:3-6)

 

Whether the children are punished for their parents sins comes up every time we discuss the ten commandments in confirmation classes. Yes, sometimes, the young people, discuss their parents sins! They are not as secret as you might think or hope. Your children know and others know as well. The youth are concerned about your sins; for your sakes as well as for their own. They become especially worried when they hear that they might be punished for something they have not done. I always reassure them that they will not be punished, according to the word we've received through Ezekiel. But, what we have to be careful of is that we do not inherit, by learned behavior, that which is wrong. God has given us His Spirit of Truth, by which we can discern the difference between what is right and what is wrong. We do not have to follow in our parents' footsteps if they have chosen a path which leads us away from God's will for us.

 

Likewise, I think we often tend to blame parents for the sins of their children. Sometimes, the case may be that they have learned these sins from their parents. But, just as often, they may have learned them elsewhere. In today's society there are a lot more adults than parents that children are learning from.

 

Be careful then what we teach our children and our neighbor's children. 

 

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—  “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." (Eph 6:12)

God's Peace - Pr. J