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Key Bible Verse: "A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and took a trip to a distant land" (Luke 15:13). Bonus Reading: 1 Samuel 17:20-33

At age 16 Steve informed us that if he finished high school he had no intention of going on to "something as dull as college", since that would merely prepare him for a "boring office job in a city." He'd never agree to wear the uncomfortable shirt and tie such work would require. Ruth and I never insisted that our sons choose careers requiring higher education. But Steve was probing, we sensed, to see if we'd allow him to make his own decision.

Steve next announced that he planned to work on the Alaskan pipeline, earning tons of money while living in the woods! This massive engineering project was then recruiting workers from the contiguous 48 states to build a crude-oil pipeline across hundreds of miles of Alaskan wilderness.

Knee-jerk opposition is the "normal" parental response to such thoughts from their teen: "What a crazy idea! I don't want to hear any more about it." Such rigidity often pushes the kid into out-and-out rebellion—rushing to fulfill the dream, no matter how impractical or inadequately planned.

To Steve's announcement, we answered, "Wow, that's exciting! If anybody can pull that off, you can." [continued 8/14]

—Dennis Gibson in The Sandwich Years

My Response: How can I listen receptively and respond openly to a teen's impulsive visions?

Thought to Apply: Give the dreamers room. Dreams are fragile things that have a hard time emerging in a cloud of negativism. —Charles Swindoll (pastor & author)

Adapted from The Sandwich Years (Dennis & Ruth Gibson [dennis@dennisgibson.com], 1991) by permission.

Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

I need Your wisdom, Lord, to adjust my parenting style from director of children to encourager and shaper of emerging adulthood for youths.

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