How do you explain to a teenager that certain things are wrong when you did them yourself? Seems so hypocritical! How do you explain to them that although things seem so unfair to them now that one day it will all make sense? Especially when you never listened to that advice yourself. Is it realistic to expect our own children not to try the same things we did as a teenager? There are some that will get lucky and they won’t. But for the majority of us it is something that will come up in life at some point. Even for the best, well-disciplined, even Christian kids. Trying to get a teenager to trust you and your experiences and to believe you know what you are talking about reminds me of what we have to do in our spiritual life as well. We have to have faith in a God that we can’t see, a future we can only imagine. We have to obey a Father we can’t “physically” hear out loud and have faith that he knows best and it will all make sense in the end. We have to know that when God allows us to go thru heartbreaking trials that he knows it’s for our own good. We have to know that what we want may not be the same thing God wants for us and we may not be happy about it or like it one bit. We just have to have FAITH. We have to make a decision to TRUST. Trust is earned and God has never let me down. I have made a decision to trust God and pray my children will always do the same. Our children have the same decision to make about their parents. I pray that mine will trust me and God will give me the words and guidance to help them make good decisions and have a happy, successful life. It is so hard being a teenager. They are bombarded with emotions and temptations that can be so overwhelming. As a parent our first instinct is to handcuff them to our side and make all their decisions for them to protect them. My prayer for all my friends and family who are parents of a teenager is that God will arm us with the knowledge, patience, words, compassion and love to let them be who they are yet make good decisions and still have fun, trust God, stand firm in their values, respect themselves and expect others to as well, realize being a parent is hard work too, and to trust us too because we want the best for them. There will be times we may disappoint each other or let each other down, unlike God. God will never let us down. We have to be forgiving to each other for those faults we all have. It’s a learning process for all. We don’t have all the answers, but God does. Help us all to put our faith in God and let him guide us through life. We can’t do it without Him.
I believe for a teenager their #1 focus should be God then school. Not boys, parties, etc. Was it mine? Nope! Do I regret it? Absolutely! How many of us regret the way we treated our our parents? I sure do. My mistakes? Not making God #1 in my life, not giving my parents a chance and not taking school seriously. Will my kids listen to me? I don’t know. I pray they will. There is plenty of time for all the rest after school. Time seems so long when you are a teenager but it goes by so fast. I know that now. I wish I would have listened to some adult when I was young. I know my kids think I’m crazy and unfair. I have stupid rules. I expect too much. It’s because I love them, I want the best for them, I see my mistakes. I’m not perfect and I hope they realize that. I will do the best I can and hope they give me a chance to lead them the best I know how……with Gods direction. I am so very proud of who my kids are! We have entered those teenage years and I have FAITH that everything will be ok!
And to my DEAR, SWEET friends (both of you, you know who you are)……………. Don’t let these trials damage your relationship. You are family to me. You are both awesome and good and I love you both. This is a time for you to be strong…………together! I may need you there for me one day! Lean on each other and know I am here for you both, anytime! I love yall!!!!
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