Celebrating Teenagers

The school year has officially begun and in honour of that I will finally publish this post that I wrote a little while ago. 🙂

Once upon a time I was a teenager and shortly thereafter I advanced into my twenties. However, I still spend a lot of time with my teenage acquaintenances and enjoy it immensely. They are some of the loveliest people I know and brimming with potential if it is tapped into. 

We have had many different discussions about life's perplexities and hard truths. 

In school we talk about things like, "Why did God give Adam and Eve the choice to sin?" and "Have you ever wondered if Christianity is simply a hoax?" Well, in reality, I had actually. I wrestled with it myself a time ago, and so we dive into discussion and answers. 

Other times we talk about changes in life, the difficulties of relating to authority correctly, handling our emotions, figuring out what to do in life, and big dreams for the future.  

I really find the brains of teenagers quite fascinating. They shift on any given day, sometimes even by the hour, and come up with all kinds of difficult emotions and dilemmas like, Why did God give me such horrendous looking freckles? What are my friends thinking of me? or, How am I ever going to do that speech in front of the class without looking like a fool? 

Indeed, I have learned buckets of things from my delightful life with teenagers. 

One: Growth takes time. If adolescents were to grow up quickly over night, they wouldn't be half the strong, capable, mature adults they become. A few turbulent years of questioning, failure, and slow progress are needed to create hardy men and women of character.  

Two: Have a sense of wonder. It is my true wish that every adult on the planet would continue to retain at least a part of their innocent sense of wonder, imagining and creativity. Somehow, teenagers (especially young teens) come up with the ideas and creativity that many adults have stuffed in the box with their baby clothes. 

Three: Do things. Young people have energy and like to be active. This means they will accomplish much if set to the right task. God wants us to be busy with good and there is no better time than youth to tackle opportunities with boundless energy. 

Four: Stay young. This is a shout-out to all adults, but in order to stay young it is a good practice to spend a few hours every week doing things with a teenager that you used to do back when you were fifteen. Indeed, heart muscles will be strengthened, bones you never new existed will creak back into working order, and your sense for adventure will grow to new heights. 

Five: Add spice to life. Whether that's clocking the speed of your atv as it takes off, trying a new ice cream flavour, going shopping at the mall simply to spend time with a friend, or skydiving for the bravehearted, spending time with teenagers will teach you to pack each moment with memories. 

Six: Love God and learn from His word. Many of the teenagers in my class come with a healthy desire to know. They want to know the answer to all of life's unanswered questions. They want to know about God and how He applies to their life. In this process many choose to ask people older than them while others search on their own. Of course, God has all the answers and while He uses faithful men, they are fallible. Listening to advice from the older generation while keeping an open Bible in our hands and the Spirit in our hearts is a wise approach to learning truth. 

Seven: I have learned about the heart of Jesus. I have found it expedient to look beyond the current circumstances as I live among teenagers. It is important that we as adults see the potential in them and look beyond the difficulties now. They will grow up, they will succeed, they will develope character. Jesus' love goes far beyond our sins and failures and He sees potential in us that we don't even know exists. All teenagers deserve someone who believes in them and loves them no matter what. 

And so, that is a quick glance into why I think teenagers are wonderful people. They really are our future and a big part of who we are now. Let us champion them and encourage them to be all that God created them to be. ❤️