Above is a pic of my youngest daughter and me.
My Husband, My brother in Christ
A Cultural Stigma... A Tragedy
I have been thinking pretty heavily about the fact that I probably only have 4 to 6 more years before our oldest two sons move out and go to college.
The book that has most seriously impacted the way I look at these young men is the very book they are currently reading... "Do Hard Things" written by twin teen brothers that run a ministry website called Rebelution. It quite literally surpasses every book, except the Bible, that I have ever read on mothering "teens." This book brought up the history of the word "teenager" that is only about a 70 year old term and what our society has done to enable low expectations for this age. The young men that wrote this book did an extraordinary job of comparing this tragedy to the Biblical perspective.
WOW! This book has caused me to take a look at my parenting of these young men that God has given us for a season, entrusted us to raise up in the fear and admonition of the Lord, and provided a life-changing perspective on mothering them for the glory of God. I was honestly, in light of our society, put in fear of raising teenagers. When this age hit, I began wondering why there has been placed upon this age, such a stigma, in light of the fact that I REALLY ENJOY MY "TEENAGERS."
What an honor it has been to get to see them grow spiritually and even physically. I won't embellish this and tell you that it is always fun. No, it has its challenges. But they are a joy! I think the serious problems come with parents buying into the lies about this age and throwing their hands up and not involving themselves in the lives of these maturing individuals because our culture has given up on them. Like this book stated SO WELL, if you have low expectations, they will meet them... if there are high expectations, they will rise to them and often surpass them.
So parents of "teens" or "almost teens", I highly recommend that you get this book and read it... and THEN pass it on to your kids.
Rebelution conference info can be found HERE. Maybe we will see you all there in June for the Dallas conference. :-) Both parents and teens need to hear this message. Make sure you read the letter to parents!!!
Lets not buy into the lie imposed on our teens. Instead, Let's join in praying that God would make our children as "arrows in the hands of a warrior."
