What to Do with Your Wayward Adult Child

“Deconstruction” has been a part of the public lexicon for years. For many, it’s a season of honest questioning that leads to a deeper, more personal faith. Others detach themselves from church or abandon their belief in God altogether.

If your adult children are questioning their Christian faith or have already walked away entirely, you may feel upset and are asking yourself, “What do I do?”

On Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, I’m talking with author Jim Burns about how to trust God in the midst of your confusion and to respond to children who say, “I don’t believe anymore” with wisdom and humility.

As children transition into adulthood, the privilege and responsibility for making decisions about where to live, what career to choose, and who to form relationships with increasingly falls to them. Sooner or later, they’re bound to choose something with which you disagree. What then?Your role as a parent must also transition. Instead of being their authority, you become an influencer.

Releasing authority over grown children can be one of the most difficult changes in parenting.Jim Burns explains how you can maintain a healthy connection with your adult child that will allow you to be a “coach” they come to for advice, wisdom, and counsel.

Jim and I discuss:

• Entering a new season of parenting.

• What to do when your adult child deconstructs.

• The necessity of setting healthy boundaries.

• Rising above the decisions of your adult children.

• Starting a new, healthy generational pattern.

• Handling estrangement from your adult children.

• Replacing walls with bridges.

Hear our full conversation on your local radio station, online, on Apple Podcasts, or take us with you on our free phone app.

If you’d like to talk to someone about your relationship with your adult child, give us a call. We will call you back free of charge, spend some time with you on the phone, and then refer you to a like-minded counselor in your area, if needed. The number during business hours is 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).

Dr. Jim Burns’ book When Your Adult Child Strays: Trading Heartache for Hope is available for a gift of any amount. For more information, click here or call 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).