Pam and I are off to New York University in the morning to drop off Kyle (our youngest son). How do we "drop off" our 18 year old son in NYC, 10th and Broadway, Manhattan!? How can we protect him? How can we make sure he stays on the right track? How can we see to it that a huge university in a huge city doesn't chew him up and spit him out?

The simple answer is we can't. He won't be under our roof, in our watch, or within our reach. Our confidence can no longer be in our parental nest. We must now rely on him, and what we have instilled in him. It has always been our goal to raise him to be a man of integrity and destiny. Therefore, for 18 years our role has not simply been to protect, and direct. It has been to nurture a Godly character in his own spirit, a spirit that is set on what is right and just. A spirit that comes alive as it is aligned with God and Godly inspiration. A spirit that embraces life as an image-bearer of the divine.

I recall a time when I was dropping off Kyle and his brother at a middle school dance. Before they left the car I said, "Hey, I only have one rule...make good choices!". I could not predict what they might face, but I was engaging their spirits and their wills to rise up and embrace the truths they had been taught. I was calling forth their consciences to the relationships with God that they had professed.

Now, in a few hours when we once again drop off Kyle, we will have but one desire of him...make good choices. As we have had the privilege to watch him over the years, we're fully confident that he will. We can't wait to see the bite he takes out of the Big Apple!