⁴⁶ While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. ⁴⁷ Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

⁴⁸ He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹ Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Dear God, it can be so hard to know what is appropriate when you grow up. Sure, Jesus was at least 30 in this story, so he was pretty grown up, but I am 41 and it can still be hard to know when to bend to my parents’ will and when to draw a line and say that I need to do something different.

The same is true from the parents’ side. Our children are teenagers right now. They aren’t quite ready to be on their own (although they probably think they are more ready than my wife and I do), but they are ready to make some decisions for themselves. So what kinds of decisions do we turn over to them and what do we keep for ourselves? I make mistakes in this area all of the time. Frankly, lately, I have been wondering if I haven’t been erring too much on the side of letting them make their own decisions. I actually feel like I have given them too much freedom and it isn’t working.

Father, teach me to parent my children at the ages they are at now, and to parent them as they grow. I have no answers. I only have questions. I had no idea it would be this hard and that I would feel soooo unequal to the task. So please love them through me. Parent them through me. Please help my wife and me to be completely united as their parents. Help us to be completely united as man and wife. Love and encourage them through us and guide them into a life of oneness with you.