Dear Mr

I have been reading through your site, and then following many of the links as well. Your articles and comments have been interesting and helpful. I was especially interested in the "Next Generation" article.

I have come to realize that while I have guided my household through the wilderness experience of breaking away from bondage (no debt for interest, no dating, no institutional dependency, etc.), I have not as completely provided them the knowledge of how to live free in a land flowing milk and honey (how to acquire and thrive, how to court or betroth, how to excel independently). Oooo, how's that for waxing metaphorical !?!

I have also realized that the reason for my inadequacy in training my next generation is because I don't know how to live in Christian freedom myself. I am going through a time of assessing where we've been and where we're going. I am not real comfortable with introspection either, but it's part of the process I suppose. To continue the Biblical analogy, I seem to be one of the wilderness guys that has faithfully turned his back on Egypt and diligently supported the march toward Canaan, but now I see my tribe in mid-Jordan. My experiences leading this family have been wonderful, difficult, and rewarding all at the same time, but my experience as a father has little relevance to the kind of parent my children will need to be to carry on.

Then, I discover you web site. You articles are well reasoned and compelling. I have benefited from reading them in three ways: reinforcing what I have already been thinking, tying up fragments of thoughts that I've been unable to fully develop, and presenting me some new perspectives to consider.

I have seven children ranging in age from 9 to 21. My kids are almost local celebrities because of their unusual maturity and their talents. They are blessed by the Lord and it is not uncommon for total strangers to recognize it and offer compliments and comments. Of course I consider them extraordinary, but the truth is they are just examples of ordinary people whom God has sanctified and set apart for blessing.

Most people wouldn't understand that I don't feel I have adequately provided for my kids, but they are not looking forward with a view to sustained victory. Thanks for posting your site and providing me a resource for filling the gaps.