Older Entries from other blogs #3

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

thinking about teenagers

An open letter to teenagers.

I have been in love with teenagers in various youth groups for over 25 years as a youth pastor. I am desperately in love with the two who live in my house. Yet, as a dad and as a youth pastor (and as a youth professor), I have been reminded that sometimes I don't do a very good job of letting you be--you.

I had dinner with a friend who wrote a book about teenagers called, "Hurt" and he reminded me in our conversation that kids get clobbered by the culture pretty much everywhere they go. Coaches, parents, teachers, drama directors, choir leaders, bosses--all have a set of expectations that get communicated well or not so well.

It would be easy to hear "you are too much of something" or "you are not enough of something" but I hope that you will hear some of us say that we love you. To my own kids--please forgive me when I push you to a place where you feel you can't measure up. There is no part of what God created us to be where that is fair.

I am trying to do more of what King David wrote about in Psalm 46:10. I want to do more "still" and less "busy" and know that I have the smile of the Heavenly Father. And I want my kids--Aaron and Sarah and all of the other kids with whom I am privileged to minsiter--to know that I am working on seeing the masterpiece that God made--without any qualification. I still want the best for you. I still want to show you shortcuts that you aren't interested in taking. I want to take the bullets for you and help you out of the hard places. But I know that I can't and shouldn't.

Know that I pray for you.