This is a heartbreaking time for teens: suicide, depression, anxiety, FOMO, the transgender movement, isolation, and hopelessness are rife, making these difficult years even harder. This makes me that much more thankful for Paul Tripp’s work in Age of Opportunity. In the wide world of books about parenting, there are only a few that don’t push a doomed prosperity gospel (“Do it our way and your kids will be great!”); Paul’s updated classic work offers the one hope for parents and teens: the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. I’m eternally thankful for Paul and his heart to guide and encourage parents.
Lauren and I first read Age of Opportunity almost fifteen years ago, and it served as a foundation for how we have tried to parent. Through the peaks and valleys of raising our three kids, we came back to this resource several times. I couldn’t be more excited about this revised and expanded version.
We need this fundamentally hopeful book about parenting teens. The hope in this book is not grounded in practical helps—although Tripp offers many. The hope in this book is not distant from the battles; it shines in the dark. The hope is grounded in the God who sent his Son to save us. Parents of teens, take up and read—and hope!
Age of Opportunity has had a tremendous impact on my parenting, so I’m incredibly excited about this new, updated version. Paul has so helpfully applied his understanding of the gospel and the human heart to our personal walk with Jesus, our marriages, and our ministries—I am excited to see his application of the gospel to the parenting of teens made accessible to a new generation. Age of Opportunity avoids a formulaic how-to approach to rearing children and instead shows how to apply the gospel to the unique spiritual struggles of your child’s heart. For many parents, the teen years feel like a wilderness. This book will give you a compass to guide you. Though I have read dozens of parenting books, two or three have profoundly reshaped my whole approach. Age of Opportunity is one of those. You’ll love it and pass it to a friend.
Paul David Tripp transforms the paradigm for parenting teenagers from one of fear and low expectations to one of hope and meaning. Parents often forget the character of God and the power of the gospel and consequently view the teenage years as a season to be survived and endured. Although raising teens has its unique challenges, Tripp reveals how remembering who Jesus is and believing in the gospel enables us to embrace this time as a hopeful, constructive opportunity with our kids. This is a game-changing book for parents of teens.
Far too many parents enter their kids’ teenage years with fear and cynicism, hoping merely to survive. But what if you viewed parenting not as a season to survive but as a golden age of opportunity? Every parent of a teen should read Paul Tripp’s book. It will transform your perspective on parenting.
