Wikipedia defines “rites of passage” as a ritual event that marks a person’s progress from one status to another. Adam earned one of those “rites of passage” this week as he completed his years in Awana’s TNT (Truth and Training). I know it might seem trivial to many of you, but to me it was a very big deal.
It has been much different for me raising a child in the USA instead of in the tribe in Papua New Guinea. When the girls were raised in the tribe, I never had to make a decision as to whether they were allowed to go ride their bikes with a friend to a neighborhood near us, because when they rode their bikes there was only a small area they could ride and it was always within my sight or at least within the village. I also didn’t have to make decisions as to when they were old enough to meet a friend at the Basketball court, because the basketball hoop was also where I could watch them. So some of these decisions I am making with Adam having turned 12, are first time decisions for me regardless that Adam is my 4th child. So watching him recieve his “rites of passge” from TNT was very significant for me. It was as if it was his passage into being a teen (even though he is only 12). I guess I am looking at him in a new way, in many aspects because I have had to face that yes, my son is growing up!!
I am learning (though I have so much yet to learn) about what it is like to have a teenager. I constantly ask myself “How much do I control and how much do I allow them to do on their own?” or “How much do I allow them to fail before I step in and try to help them?”
I am so grateful to the Lord that He is there for me. He always wants me to trust Him and look to Him for guidance. Yet I know many times He allows me to fail, and then He is there to comfort me and help me when I do. Though as a believer I haven’t had any “rites of passage”, I have been given the right to be called a child of God (John 1:12).
Pray that I will be wise in the decisions I’m making now . Pray also that Tim and I will have wisdom as parents to guide our children in their walk with the Lord.