My advice to younger generations is to seek God’s wisdom through prayer and reading, studying, and listening to God’s Word daily. By doing this, He will enable us to discern between good and evil. I am an 83-year-old blessed father of three boys and 10 grandchildren, who reads the Bible and prays every morning, asking God for wisdom, discernment, and some gifts from the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23).
My advice goes beyond the younger generations. Parents, grandparents, relatives, and friends have a great potential to positively influence children and teenagers. Mature people can often detect certain gifts and talents in younger people. Old folks can encourage younger people by guiding them in the right direction, supporting them in various ways, advising them, or even providing some financial assistance in their education.
Our oldest boy demonstrated a technical interest early in his life. At the time the first PCs hit the market in the mid-'80s, we bought him a computer. He soon wrote his own programs and was able to help his teacher and fellow students solve some problems at elementary school. Now, he owns his own computer networking business with four hired employees. The good thing is that his dad, who encouraged him by fostering his interest, later became a beneficiary by having many of his computer problems taken care of.
Our youngest son displayed some amazing gymnastic abilities. As a preschooler, he made handstands and later walked up and down the stairs on his hands. We enrolled him in gymnastics, and he excelled, earning several trophies and once being the BC champion. An injury forced him to change to a different career, which was not totally different. He has become one of the top movie stuntmen in North America.
We noticed an astonishing interest in science in one of our grandsons, who designed his own electrical motor. I have bought him a basic book on chemistry and physics, and last Christmas a book on engineering. Both books are written in easy, understandable language and richly illustrated. Recently, we celebrated his 12th birthday, at which we gave him a beautifully illustrated tome on Earth Science. He could hardly lay it away during breakfast. This young fellow knows already more about science than many older folks.
My recommendation to the younger generations remains to first seek God’s advice by talking and listening to Him and reading His word every day. Secondly, it is important for all of us to remain open-minded to the Lord’s leading and to the counsel of mature, respected, and accomplished people.
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