thoughts about the ‘wonder years’
I have been thinking about the tumultuous teen years. Wow, it is amazing that the older I get, the more fun my teen years seem. The cruising of Altama Ave looking for boys to flirt with. The funny things that happened with friends. Like the time I was at the gas station with my friend, Jessica. I opened my door, and then preceded to back up to get closer to the pump… yeah, ripped my door completely backward and had to drive home holding my door closed! It never worked right again. My friend Jess, just laughed at me the entire trip home! Ha ha.. While it was funny, I was terrified that I was going to be grounded for months. I dreaded telling my parents that I had destroyed yet another car.
Then there were the fads. Wow, I have been a goth, a prep, a redneck and a wigger. Yes, I have died my hair black, maroon and pink. I have worn my pants hanging off my butt with big chains and the hideous dark lip liner and light lip color combo. How embarrassing for my parents. Well, for me too. : ) There were fun times but here’s the thing , I was miserable as a teen. I was depressed, suicidal and angry. I felt like I did not fit in with anyone, my teachers hated me, my parents never understood me not to mention the fact that my friendships were like walking a tightrope. God seemed like a mystical creature that was all knowing, all powerful and scary! He was like that cop in the sky that was waiting for me to screw up…which by the way I felt like I WAS a screw up! My relationship with God was extremely polarized too. For example, for a little while I would be doing good and acting right…until I got tired of trying to be perfect, then I would rebel. It was rules…no relationship.
Now I have been out of high school for eleven years and I work with teenagers. When I listen to their lives there are times when I wonder how I ever made it and I am convinced that I could never make it in today’s high school. It is so much harder with so many pressures that I never experienced. Kids seem so much more mature than they were in my day. They are thinking about things that never crossed my mind until I was in my twenties. Don’t get me wrong, emotionally I know they are the same age for the most part, but they have street smarts that I did not get close to until marriage! They have concerns that I did not have to concern myself with. Frankly it has the potential to terrify me about my own daughters teen years. I really have to just take it one day at a time.
It makes me realize more than ever that time is getting short here on earth. Satan is waging an all out war to rip people away from God. He knows that if he can get them young, there is a great likelihood that they will never live radically for God. Satan loves complacency. That is one thing that as adults we do well. Life just gets in the way. Teens on the other hand are idealistic and passionate. Yes, their lives get chaotic and busy but their passion is not drained…yet. There is a song by Nickel creek that says it all too well: “with so much distraction, it’s hard not to wander away.”
Another trick I see the enemy targeting our kids with is the idea that sex is no big deal. The bible says that Sexual sin is the only sin against our own body. I think there are evident ways this is true (std’s) but even more than that, Shame! It is the most prevalent overall feeling that I see in girls in particular between the age of 13-18. Shame destroys our ability to see God accurately . Shame masks the truth of who we are because shame tells us that we are bad, we are beyond help, forgiveness or redemption. Sounds like the voice of Satan himself doesn’t it?
The Word of God says that Satan is a Liar and a thief. He has come to steal, kill and destroy and He is angry because his time is short. So guard your heart!
