Teenagers

I love teenagers. Teenagers give me a reason to smile and not feel so bad about messing up. Sure I was a teenager myself not so long ago, OK maybe it has been a good bit ago, but nevertheless I was once a teen myself. I am no longer a teen in age, nor in body. It takes me a little longer to heal, but in mind I can run with the best of them, and do not do so bad in the body department either. The one thing that I have learned since my teen days have passed, however, is to never give away my game plan, and never celebrate too early. You know what I am saying right? You play one of your kids, or a nephew/niece, and they have you down 8 to 1 in a back yard pick up game to 11. They talk trash and say there is no way you can come back and you go on a 9 - 0 run! They get frustrated and try the hard foul, and you score anyway, and they come up with collegiate rules, and say it was on the floor! You say something like we're not in school anymore, this is the NBA and we would use the continuation, but it was in the act of shooting, and school is no longer in session. Just to be a good sport you grant them their wish and play one more possession, where you hit a 26 footer to make it clear there was no foul, no traveling, and no violations whatsoever, and you walk away the victor by a score of 11 - 8!

How's this one for you:

Teenager says:
I have the munchies, and I would love something sweet to eat.

Adult says nothing and makes his/her way to the kitchen.

Teenager says:
Hey! what are you doing?

You the adult say:
Gettng the last ice-cream sandwich from the cooler.

Having a teenager around is not so bad. You pray a little harder. You pray when they go out with friends, when they take the car out alone for the first time, but you realize that you can't take care of everything all the time. You are not omniscient, ominpotent, nor are you omnipresent, although with our kids we would like to be sometimes. I emphatically say, "sometimes!"

So, God I am praying now in thanksgiving for teenagers, and praying that you keep them safe when their parents realize that they have no choice but to put them in your hands. I also thank You for blessing me with that quick first step! If we would have had to race a mile for that ice-cream, I would have been out of breath, thirsty, lost the ice-cream, and the last drink of lemonade too!