13Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance . . . 1Peter 1:13-14
Being a parent is a mental marathon. The boundaries inside our head make way for a buffet of different thoughts, from the plausible to the unimaginable. When a teen is working out their bruising cocktail of hormones and angst, it is difficult to stay “sober-minded”.
“Why did you punch him?”
“What happened to your younger brother?”
“How did you manage to catch the dog on fire?”
All questions that seem to defy our rational boundaries of parenting. Yet if we are not careful, it is easy for us to get caught up in the crazy. When I first started teaching many years ago, a mentor told me that we get into teaching to bring kids to our level, but in reality we end up kneeling to theirs. While at the time I felt this sentiment to be bleak, now I rush to get on their level. Our perspective comes from where we sit and because of our age and life experiences, we are in a significantly different seating arrangement than the modern teen. This may be why Peter reminds us, as distinguished and rational adults, to be “obedient children”. The whole goal of human existence is to see from a different perspective – whether it be from God’s or our teen’s. May we never simply react as parents and mentors but see past the fog to the vision we have for our teens. It is often not what is done but the reaction to what is done that will be the defining moment in any circumstance. Eventually the sibling is found and the dog is saved. Stay sober-minded, we are with you.
Matt simon blog 