The practice and art of initiating children in adulthood has been lost in our society. Did we give up those ancient practices or is the need for initiation so hard-wired into us that it comes out in other venues? How can we regain, redeem, reclaim and remember what we have lost so that we can turn the tide on the perpetual adolescent celebrated in our society and launch youth into adulthood with God’s glory? Unlike any other book, Don Joy’s, Empower Your Kids To Be Adults, will help you on your journey by asking the right questions and developing an approach for your home and church to battle against “the world, the flesh and the devil.”
Kids want to become adults—better stated, they want to become just like the god-like beings taking care of them, namely their parents. Dr. Joy believes we have missed the implanted “Creator-markers” in our children and therefore leave them to journey into the abyss of adolescence unblessed, undirected, unchallenged, unchanged and unfit for an adult launch. Had the parents picked up on the clues and cues their children gave them, they could have partnered with their tike and become all the more blessed themselves in the blessing of the kid’s journey. The problem with many adults is that they themselves either paint such a picture of becoming adult as a curse or they haven’t experienced a successful launch themselves. In either case, they are doomed to reap what they sow and society is the worse for it. The truth is, if we do not initiate our children someone else will. In that story, the child is initiated by an entirely ungodly set of values which leads to a status and role recognized by the initiating peer group—so powerful that in many cases it can tear the teen right out of the home or even this world. What can we do? When no significant adult initiates kids into adulthood, kids will leap to initiate themselves. One of the first things on that list is to de-bond them from the family. They will offer each other secrets, approval, touch, respect, vocabulary, endless consumer rights, nickname, and a badge of honor for their performance. The wayward wife of Proverbs is not just soliciting from a human perspective—but a cultural one as well. “Come along with me!” she sasses. What has gone wrong? One thing is our homes have been abandoned by adults. “We have lost the art of turning children into humans. A broken television gets more attention than a broken child.”
Dr. Joy exegetes life experiences in search of answers. In these pages, Don mixes his extensive educational background, his love for young people and the Lord Jesus, his fellowship with like-minded women and men, and his teaming with students who are the contemporary “Indiana Jones’” in search of God’s gems of wisdom. A few of the main questions driving this book are: Is having a preoccupation with distancing themselves from everybody else and hanging on to their generation’s insecurities and grievances the best we have to offer? Seeing them become adults isn’t enough, it has to come down to seeing them become human--but how do we define a kid’s worth and destiny? Are we going to sell our kids into cultural slavery of perpetual adolescence? The defining curriculum used on this adventure is the one you have stored in your own life with the present reality your classroom. Don works hard at getting you to that inner curriculum, unpack it, and then organize it with a vision for your kids—one that is good for the kids and the parents. Namely, the vision is for our kids to become our friends as adults. As we dance the adult dance with our kids we will empower them to achieve what they deeply desire—to become just like you as an adult—an adult with all the fun of freedom, competency, and productive responsibility. Don’s words will guide you in giving them opportunities to walk alongside you and share your real-life curriculum! “Pharmacies stock no medicine as positive as this natural chemical [endorphins] which arises from contact with a respected and fully trusted person.”