Teenagers

What does that word make you think of? Do you think about your own teen years? Years filled with pain and drama. Years filled with fun. Or years filled with a mixture of all three. OR... Does it make you think of teenagers today? The ones you see at the mall that are rude and "weird." Maybe you think it's a generation lost to selfishness, cell phones, sexting and all that is wrong with society.

I'm hoping this post will change your heart and your mind if you fall into the second camp. I've heard a lot of negative things about today's youth. I've heard it from every generation from theirs to my grandparents. But I want to tell you about 2 teenagers who are making a difference. Teens that are taking a good look at their relationship with God and living outloud for Him.

One of these teens is a high school girl that I volunteer with at our church. I've been mentoring her since she was a freshman. A few weeks ago she did a week long project called REDEFINE. God had been asking her to let Him redefine a few things in her life. Things like beauty, hunger, cold, and generosity. So she challenged herself to a week of projects. She tackled these issues head on and let God work out some amazing things in her life.

For beauty she spent the day make-up free, hair left natural, and wearing a t-shirt and jeans. This beautiful young lady does not see the beauty God created in her when she looks in the mirror. She knows this. She fights this almost everyday. But on one day she chose to see herself as God made her without the things of our society to define her beauty. It was so hard for her. I saw her on this day. She was fighting her insecurities every step of the way. But she did it. And God worked in her. She's back to wearing make-up (which is not in itself bad), but she's one step closer to loving herself- flaws and all.

For generosity she babysit for Ian and I so we could have a free date night. What a blessing!! Then we came home to a $50 bill on my dresser. This girl struggles to put gas in her car, does not spend a lot of money on clothes or the latest things. $50 is A LOT of money. And she chose to give it to us. I immediately felt a huge burden for how we were going to spend this money. We thought about it for almost a week before we hit on the perfect idea that would honor her and honor God.

She's been reading the Bible a lot. On her own, not prompted or encouraged by anyone. All by herself she's been digging into God's Word. I believe that's why she heard Him tell her that He needed to redefine some things in her life. So we bought Life Application Study Bibles. These Bibles are normally very expensive. If she had purchased them with the $50 she would have been able to buy 2. We were able to buy 4. God doubled her gift because she was willing to give it away. What an amazing lesson for me to learn... from a teenager!

The other teen is an 18 year old boy (he's really a young man) that has been active in our youth group for awhile. He has a HUGE heart for the people of northern Mexico. So do we. I think that's why we get along so well. This Christmas this boy and his friends gathered 5000 items for the poor people living in Rocky Point, MX. They took everything down the week before Christmas. I fully expected them to handout the gifts. But they didn't. They chose to give the gifts to the local churches. The local churches handed out the gifts. This young man recognized the need for the churches to help the local people. The churches and the community need to be building relationships- and he helped facilitate that. WOW!

He also volunteered- we did not ask him- to come along for the 207 ride and video tape the experience. He's extremely talented and he wanted to put his talents to good use. He spent 3 days with us. I'm pretty sure he had fun, but he also worked very hard. He was completely respectful, helpful and never once complained about anything. He has already created a REALLY cool 4 minute video of the 207 experience.

2 teenagers. They aren't making news headlines, they aren't taking over the whole world. BUT they are listening to God speak to them. I am honored to be able to watch God unfold their lives, to watch them walk the path he has laid out for them, to watch them be Jesus to a lost and hurting world.