How the job description for Christian parents changes when their young adult goes off to university

Elinor Luncan and Luke Smith from Fusion help Christian parents reframe the changes that happen when university starts

Revision is finished. Exams are over. Prayers have been prayed and now it’s a waiting game. The next few weeks stretch out in front of you. And you can almost forget that the 14th of August is inching closer with each day that passes. The summer after A levels always feels like it should be calm, peaceful, a time for patient waiting. In reality, if you’re sending a young adult off to university in September, your focus is probably already on exam results and where they’ll be going. After that, your mind will jump to what accommodation they’ll be in, and after that, what equipment and supplies they’ll need to take with them so they can survive on something other than pasta bake 3 times a day. And, before you know it, September will be here and you’ll be in a car piled with stuff, driving down the motorway and trying to ignore the chorus of Slipping Through my Fingers playing on repeat in your head. 

All of this is normal. Thousands of other parents in the UK are thinking the same. ‘Where are they going?’ is an important question. But here’s another one to ask: ‘how are they going?’

Are they going ready to live for Jesus? Are they going prepared to take the gospel to their campus? Are they going as a missionary into the opportunity of a lifetime?

This is what will make the biggest difference to their time at university. Not finding exactly the right tea towel to take with them.

As a parent or spiritual parent, your role is far from over. Don’t write yourself out, but do write yourself a new job description

Whether you’re a biological parent, a godparent, a youth leader, or any kind of spiritual parent, you will have already ……