I have a story to tell.
Mr and Mrs Smith have been parenting a child for many years. This youngster has now emerged out of his childhood and feels confident enough (or so he thinks) to step out into the launching pad to board his capsule called 'adolescence'. His parents watch apprehensively as they wait for his rocket to fire.
The parents wish they could go with him, but there is only room for 1 person in the capsule. Besides, nobody invited them! Without warning, the mighty rocket engines begin to roar and the 'umbilical cord' falls away.
A few weeks later, his parents go through the scariest experience of their lives. They suddenly lose all contact with the capsule. They wonder what has happened to their communication ..?? how can this happen when they most wanted to be assured of their son's safety? Why won't he talk to them? This period of silence may continue for a few years. The same child who used to talk a mile a minute and asked a million questions has now reduced his vocab to monosyllabic phrases. They are "I dunno lah," "Maybe," "Noooo!(with shocked expression)" "I forgot" or "Huh?..What?!!". Otherwise, you can hear sounds like - groans, piggy grunts and growls over the receivers.
Years later, the Control Tower fears the spacecraft has been lost. Then, a few scratchy signals are finally picked up unexpectedly from a distant transmitter. The parents are jubilant as they hover near their radio. Was that really his voice? It is much deeper and more mature than they remembered. There it is again! There is no mistake about it - their spacey son has made a deliberate effort to correspond with them! It's a miracle!! He was only 14 when he blasted into space and now he is nearly 21. Could it be that the negative environment has been swept away and now communication is possible again?
YES. For most families, that is precisely what happens, and Peter and I are no exception. My 1st capsule has sort of landed and is communicating with us except for brief periods of time when powerful hormonal forces come into play and overtake the 'spacer'. As for the 2nd capsule, we hope it will land soon as we wait on the ground.
Parenting is never easy, coz we have to handle our own emotions too. We are expected to understand them when they hang out with their friends late in the night, doing things out of peer pressure in order to be accepted, or give whatever remnants of time left for us only to find they're gone coz they need that time to meet up with MORE friends or immerse in more activities.
Despite the stress of parenthood, more importantly, we know that we have followed what God says in Prov 22:6 :
'Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it.'
I believe with all my heart :)))) my children will grow to love God more, fear God and fulfill their destinies, and live fruitful and productive lives.
