This past week Debbie and I were able to live out a long held dream of mine, become an over the road trucker. Ok, absent the tractor-trailer and overnights in a truck stop, over the last six days we logged about 1800 miles between two separate trips; one to visit our kids in Buffalo, and the remaining couple of days visiting most of our church college students, who are spread out over the state and neighboring states. In the six day stretch, we passed through many towns, consumed numerous meals at “old-standbys” and local establishments, one in fact, called “The Library”, which according to one of our students, works very well when trying to assure your parents that you are really studying, not merely having a good time. The purpose of the trip was straightforward enough; encourage our students that their church cares for them, is praying for them, and is generally concerned for their welfare and their academic and spiritual progress. Nothing does that better than a personal contact, as I very much remember my pastor visiting our family while I was at seminary, preparing for the ministry.
So what did I discover between the bites and chews of hungry College students, enjoying a breakfast, lunch, or dinner:
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Well, while they may miss their parents slightly, their sister not much (or so they say), but they do miss their dog.
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That roommates can be conducive to or real problematic when it comes to being able to study, or even concentrate.
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That stress does exist for them, from the pressure of multiple assignments to the balancing of work and study— as well as the balancing of their budget, and paying their bills.
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I learned that being on their own (or reasonably) has afforded them the opportunity to learn new skills or better develop their interpersonal relationships, or both.
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They have been forced to face new challenges, make good decisions, and pray about the hurdles in their life, both those they may have created and those that popped up without warning.
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And, they are making spiritual decisions; where to worship, why, and how often; what to involve themselves in, and why they should or shouldn’t participate; and just how valuable their spiritual growth and service to the Lord Jesus can be to their future lives. By the way, these are areas that are crucial to the formation of principles and practices that will govern their adult lives well beyond the College years.
In short, they are experiencing life in a world where mom and dad no longer hold the critical high ground for establishing just who they will be, what their character will become and how their priorities for life and work will incorporated into their worldview. In my own early adult years, college and the military provided the playing field and the challenge for just what kind of man I would become— and all of it beyond the vision of my parents, who were no longer aware of my movements, my activities, or quite frankly, where, or with whom I was spending the night. God was good but it was all worked out in the matrix of my college and military experiences, and I might add, with faithful Christian leaders who came along side of me— and for which Robert Frost once noted in a poem, “ has made all the difference”.
Heady stuff, right? You bet, and that’s why I’m unwilling for our youth to experience it apart from the friendly reminders and godly challenge that, “hey, Pastor Mark is here… and our church cares for me,” can bring to their lives.
MJC
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