You know your children are growing up when they stop asking you where they came from and refuse to tell you where they’re going. —P.J. O’Rourke (1947– )

Kids are supposed to grow, be curious, discover new things and test your boundaries. That’s their job.

Your job is to keep open lines of communication, set a good example, enter their world, give reasonable warnings, rescue them, love them and pray for them.

A generation or two ago, parents could shield their kids from most of the cruddiest crud of the world. But that’s just not possible anymore. Laptops and tablets go everywhere and reveal everything. The media has turned from your advocate to your enemy. Neighbors on the same block no longer agree about right and wrong. Up until a few years ago, school boards could take a stand against clearly immoral choices and values. Today, trends such as social justice, cultural diversity and “alternative lifestyle education” ensure that your child will be indoctrinated with falsehoods masquerading as truth.

The best way to protect them is to prepare them. Your innocent, wide-eyed seven-year-old son or daughter is about to get blasted by a culture that has no moral compass. Your teenager is already surrounded and in desperate need of reinforcements. It’s a good thing you’re there, Dad, to guide them through the darkness into light.

What about you?

Kids are still kids. They walk without fear into the shadows. Unfortunately, the stakes are higher and the shadows are deeper and darker than ever. Don’t give up, Dad. You are your child’s most important protector.

 

Adapted from: One-Minute Devotions for Dads. Copyright © 2012 by Jay Payleitner. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. Used by permission.