Daniel:
“Alright, let's continue our PASSAGE journey together. Today, we have to make some decisions. What blueprints or plans will we follow for our structure? The options are pretty endless, actually, with a combination of wood, paint, and fasteners. So are we building a bridge? A door? A wardrobe? I mean, maybe we could find Mr. Tumnus. Sorry, uh, Narnia joke, if that didn't connect. What do you think?”
Ansley:
“How about a PASSAGE kinda like, uh, an arch or a tunnel?”
Daniel:
“That sounds good, love that. We can actually use this blueprint paper to sketch out our plan. Each square represents a unit of measurement. And it helps us know the scale of what we will build. We need to think of the look and feel the dimensions and stability of the structure as we make our plan.”
Ansley:
“How about something like this?”
Daniel:
“I like it. But now that we have a plan, we have to stick with our plans for every measurement, every piece, and not just change our minds based on what we feel like doing in the moment.”
Ansley:
“Sounds like another metaphor to me.”
Daniel:
“Well, yeah, it definitely can be, for sure. The truth is, we all have to decide which blueprints we're following for our lives as well. Parents, you've made a choice for your family values and rhythms, and students, you're making that choice with every decision you make, the friends you choose, the activities you're involved in, and how you spend your free time. And the skills that you develop are areas that you're taking ownership of in your life.”
Ansley:
“Ownership is the act or state of possessing something.”
Daniel:
“Yeah, you're right. Your parents have made a lot of decisions for you up to this point. But as you move through this passage into young adulthood, you'll have to make a lot more decisions for yourself. Thankfully, your parents helped you with decisions like trying not to fly off the roof or eating candy for every meal. And they helped you learn how to go to sleep in a regular pattern. And you're going to make decisions on your own as simple as, ‘Do I want to eat the same foods my parents eat?’ And to like the extremes of like, ‘Do I believe the same things my parents believe?’"
Ansley:
“That feels like a big decision? How would someone just choose to believe in a different thing?”
Daniel:
“It's a good question. And the thing I've learned in life is that people don't actually make big decisions, they actually make a million little decisions that make the big decisions for them. For example, I've seen a lot of teenagers make decisions about who they hang out with. And then they start to talk about the same things, like the same things, end up pursuing these things with their time and their focus. Along the way, they didn't recognize how much they were changing from their parents, because they became more and more focused on their friends, or their boyfriends or girlfriends.”
Ansley:
“So if my friend values or believes other things, I might end up believing what they believe.”
Daniel:
“That could definitely happen. And that's why it's really important who you choose to spend time with. However, at the end of the day, you have to own the decisions you make along the way. Jesus even challenged his disciples with a two-part question. Who do people say the Son of Man is? And they gave a variety of responses? And then,”
Ansley:
"’but what about you?' He asked, 'Who do you say I am', Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God?' Jesus replied, 'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in Heaven’ Matthew 16:15-17.”
Daniel:
“But what about you, you have to take ownership of your faith because your parents, pastors or other people can't decide for you what to believe or how to live. You have a lot of decisions to make. But one that is most important of all, is, will I walk in the way of the world, this is often going to feel more appealing in the moment. But it ultimately leads to a temporary and self-focused life. Or will I walk in the way of Jesus? In many moments, it's going to feel more difficult to choose the eternal God-focused life. But this decision can't be made for you. And even if you choose the way of Jesus, the truth is, you're going to still feel pressure to conform to the pattern of the world around you. Taking ownership is part of this next phase of young adulthood. You will have more freedom to make decisions, but you have to own the consequences and the responsibilities of all of those decisions.”
Ansley:
“Until next time,”
Daniel:
“Embrace the journey.”