A day in the life of teenagers....

So I'm not a teenager anymore, although I often get mistaken for one and sometimes still feel like one. (I mean 24 came quickly...where is time going?)

However, I spend a lot of my life and time with teenagers.  And getting to see their world from an outside perspective, not being personally caught up in the drama, gossip, conflict but being close enough to know what's going on...it is SOMETHING ELSE. Phew... how we all survive being teenagers...I'm not sure.  But here is my summary statement for 'a day in the life of teenagers'...

'Broken people breaking people'

I know that I am not a creative genius and that many people before me have used the expression -- "Broken people break people" but seriously, that is MIDDLE SCHOOL & HIGH SCHOOL. 

I watch my friends walk into a day at school dealing with so much crap: how they view themselves, trouble with family, fighting with friends, frustration with relationships, etc. And all that baggage leads to bad moods, insecurity (which is personally my least favorite emotion), sadness, depression, hopelessness, etc.  Then, those emotions often lead to hatred for the sake of self-defense, self-protection, and survival.  So many harsh words are said to people and about people...and we all know that the saying 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me' is a big LIE.  Bones heal with cast, but the verbal wounds leave broken places in us that are so hard to heal and erase from our minds.  How many of you can think back many years ago to your school days and remember hurtful things that were said to you and hurtful things you said to others?? (Raising my hand...actually both hands)

Thanks to the 21st century and the invention of the great social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (which I really do like most of the time...but adds stresses to many lives), a conflict between two people instantly becomes EVERYONE's business.  And there is public proof of the hatred, gossip, rumors and it usually spreads to where a mass amount of people gossip, hate, and gang up on the person.  You can watch it happen ALL the time.  And then there is the infamous 'subtweeting' - which is essentially publicly talking about somebody behind their back (that made me laugh publicly and behind someones back..).  You don't use names so then others 'assume' the comment is about them.  And I think we've all heard what happens when you assume.  Also, interesting fact:

Social media—from Facebook to Twitter—have made us more densely networked than ever. Yet for all this connectivity, new research suggests that we have never been lonelier (or more narcissistic)—and that this loneliness is making us mentally and physically ill. A report on what the epidemic of loneliness is doing to our souls and our society. 

~ 'Is Facebook Making Us Lonely' on www.theatlantic.com 

I share ALL OF THIS really just to ask for prayer.  To ask for prayer for my friends at the high school and middle school where I work with Young Life and WyldLife.  For the Lord to permeate and change the culture of the modern day teenager's life.  There is absolutely nothing that I can do to change it.  And it looks, seems, and feels impossible! BUT I believe the Lord can do incredible things! It would have to be ripple effect - from kid to kid to kid.  It would have to start with my friends understanding the great LOVE of God. 

Here is a wonderful section from 'Ragamuffin Gospel' by Brennan Manning.

'The living presence of Jesus awakened joy and set people free' pg62 

"The contagious joy of Jesus (only carriers can pass it on) infected and freed His followers.  The author of Hebrews says, "Jesus Christ is the same today as he was yesterday and as he will be for ever' (13:8). If Jesus appeared at your dining room table tonight with knowledge of eerything you are and are not, total comprehension of your life story and every skeleton hidden in your closet; if He laid out the real state of your present discipleship with the hidden agenda, the mixed motives, and the dark desires buried in your psyche, you would feel His acceptance and forgiveness.  For 'experiencing God's love in Jesus Christ means experiencing that one has been universally accepted, approved and infinately loved, that one can and should accept oneself and one's neighbor. Salvation is joy in God which expresses itself in joy in and with one's neighbor.' " pg 63-64

It is the Love of Jesus that can change things.  It is knowing that we are known, accepted, forgiven, and loved that can free us from breaking other people and instead loving other people.  It is the joy of the Lord that is our strength!

^"Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Matthew 19:26