A number of weeks ago I shared a post on letting our children go where I shared ways we need to be sure and prepare them for life on their own. Today’s post is a bit different.

My daughter’s flight progress as off 10:30 pm Monday night.

Today I saw my 18 year old daughter off to the airport for her first solo (as in without parent or youth leader) flight with a friend. I shared in yesterday’s post that we do something BIG for our children’s 18th birthdays, because we don’t do other big events in school that most other children get. So we tailor make an event or gift that fits who they are, their loves, their passions.

• Daughter #1 got to go to NYC and see 6 Broadway shows because her love is musical theater (in fact,  her degree is Theater Education).
• Son #1 has a passion for game design and was going to attend a major gaming conference (until it was decided to close it to the public that year), and got a Wii, DS and multiple games instead.
• Daughter #2 has a gift for friendship and loving others. She got to go for a week to visit 2 friends with enough money to pay for all their activities for the week.
• Daughter #3 loves the violin and got an electric violin with mini amp.
• And our youngest daughter LOVES to travel and ‘explore new life and new civilizations’ as well as develop her photography. And so she is on a trip with her friend to England and Ireland.

Years ago, when our oldest daughter was an infant, we attended the second year of a five  year marriage conference. The couple teaching were an older couple with all grown children. They talked about how we raise our children to protect them from many negative influences of the world, and for many that will include homeschooling. BUT he warned us to be sure that we don’t stifle as we protect. That while we may not allow proms (for example) because of biblical convictions, we can give our children BETTER memories with spectacular fun things especially suited to them.

These don’t have to be as expensive as ours are (we save up for years for these, but we also don’t give gifts throughout the year). This couple gave the example of their oldest daughter who LOVED amusement parks. They arranged for her to go all day to a really great amusement park accompanied by a very handsome and gallant college guy (now, what high school girl wouldn’t want to be shown around an amusement park by a cool college guy!?) She had the time of her life and was so happy she chose that over prom.

What are YOU thinking of doing for your children that is BETTER than what the world has to offer? God’s creativity is so gi-normous (that IS a word, isn’t it? 😀 ) and we get to tap into that by His Spirit. What unforgettable things are we planning for our children during their youth, before they fly away from the nest for good? How are we tapping into the loves, passions and desires to make those memories that will help define their childhood and remind them that following God is WAY better than following after the world?

I’m linking up with these lovely blogs.