Which Way to Go

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”            —Proverbs 22:6

 How does a country boy from Mudlic, Pennsylvania end up with 25 years of formal schooling from four different colleges and graduate schools and the pastor of a United Methodist Church in Johnstown?  As I look back over my life, I notice that seemingly insignificant events and experiences have become life changing and directing milestones.

Growing up, my dad drilled this mantra into our beings, “Get a good education, so you can get a good job and make lots of money and not have to work hard.” Dad may not have actually said all those words every time, but the message came through loud and clear. After the Navy, Dad worked his way up the ladder to plant foreman at a firebrick plant in St. Charles, PA, just north of Kittanning. Not being able to move any higher because he lacked a college degree, Dad lost his job when the steel industry declined and the plant closed. From then on, our family struggled to live above the poverty level.

When my time for college came, my older brother, who was working for UPS and getting a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering, told me to get an IE degree, and we would start a consulting firm together. I had no idea what an Industrial Engineer did but enrolled at Penn State University as an IE major. During my freshman year at college, I asked Jesus Christ to forgive me of my sins and come into my heart. Jesus did just that and completely changed the direction of my life. No longer interested in making lots of money and not really liking the idea of working at a desk (I still didn’t know what an Industrial Engineer did), I dropped out of college before the spring trimester. I was 18 years old and didn’t know any better.

We generally understand the often-quoted proverb, “Train up a child in the way he should go,” to mean giving children a spiritual foundation of Church and Sunday School attendance. Parents of wayward children cling to this proverb trusting that the spiritual seeds sown early in their children’s lives will eventually bear fruit. There is also a vocational interpretation to this passage. Training up a child, in addition to dedicating your child to God, may mean giving them guidance into life and career.

We may interpret “the way he should go,” to mean “the path especially belonging to, especially fitted for, the individual's character.” In this way, the proverb urges parents and adult mentors to get to know a child’s temperament, personality, and giftedness and guide them accordingly. Parents cannot force children into or away from certain fields or life paths, but we can direct them into learning experiences that might help them discern God’s calling and vocation.

Recently, I anecdotally asked several folks how they arrived at their current position or career path. A few persons knew from the time they were little children what they wanted to do. They graduated from high school, took specific courses or applied for the exact job, and off they went. Others, more like my experience, ended up all over the map before they eventually found their way.

I urge you adults, especially parents: spend quality time with your children, get to know their temperament and giftedness, and prayerfully lead them in the way they should go. Their choices are ultimately up to them, but perhaps we can help them shorten the road to hearing God’s calling and finding their life’s path.