Touched by Teens

Teens.
They can be tough.
They can be moody. They go through so many changes especially in the junior high years.

I choose not to teach teens. I decided that early on in my teaching career. I subbed for teen music classes once as a temporary substitute teacher just after my college graduation. By the time I got to grad school and had switched majors, I knew I did NOT want to teach special needs teens. Or any teens. They can be tough to handle.
I carried this attitude to church youth groups. I really didn't see my self serving and using my giftings with teens. No way...kinda scary.
but....

Then I had a teen.

My oldest daughter is turning 15 in a couple of weeks. She has been a teen for almost 2 years and my, oh my, what teen drama and angst have we experienced here at our house.
What wonderful times we have had, too.

Teens are still children really. But they don't want you to know that.
They still want boundaries. (to some extent). Yet they need their freedom, too, to grow up in a healthy manner.
They still need guidance and yet they tend to want to get advice from people outside their family.
This is why we are so thankful for our church and its teen leaders/staff. Some are paid staff members so it is their job to hang out with the teens and know everything about the youth center. Some adults just like serving with the teen population. My husband is like that. This is why he jumped right in to becoming a member and serving at the Youth Center. He loves working with the middle school boys. (my least favorite group!). I always thought it was because he is surrounded by estrogen here at home....but...really, the Lord has led him to work with teen boys and he is good at it!

And now.....I am volunteering once a month at the Youth Center. And I like it.
HUH? I thought I disliked working with that population.
Well, first of all, I wanted to meet the boy who has a crush on my daughter and bought her gifts throughout last year's mission trip! Not really. Well, I mean that wasn't my main reason for signing up to volunteer among 100+ teens. (he's a great kid, by the way!)
And then I just wanted to be serving in some capacity where I was also serving with my husband.
And....I found out that these teens are not so bad after all. I mean, I am not teaching them in a classroom and that makes a huge difference for me!

I like getting to know these teens....there are so many that I don't know them all...we have a large church. But...I know the ones who attend the high school where my daughter goes. I know the ones who hang out with her. I know the ones who are serving at the center. I know that most of them are great kids who are trying to shine the light of the Lord in their public schools. A few of them are homeschooled and several of them attend the private Christian school in our town. There doesn't seem to be a "them against us" kind of mentality among the teens. In other churches I have been in, many teens in school felt "different" from the ones who were homeschooled. It isn't like that at our church. Or at least we haven't experienced that. All of them are learning and growing together. They are respectful in the church and to the leaders/other adults. They are helpful to each other and to newcomers.
Yesterday our pastor was preaching on youth from I Timothy 4. Our church will be going through some changes in the fall when school starts back up.
He is preparing the congregation for those changes that will be occuring in the Youth Center.
We will no longer be having a seperate service for them. They will be incorporated into the main sanctuary and into service in the main building. He gave an awesome sermon about why this is important. They will still have their weekly life::groups/Bible studies. They will still have monthly social events for fellowship and fun. The teen leaders, of which my daughter is now a part of, will still have their weekly meetings at the church. But they will be part of the whole body, not just set apart in the Youth Center.

What touched me deeply: the youth coordinator and her volunteers made a video to show on the large screens at the end of the service. It showed the teens from last summer's missions trip serving children, the elderly, working the land, praying, leading Bible studies, serving here at our home church and just being....teens! My daughter was part of the missions trip and she was in several of the pictures. At one point she was the only one on the large screen.
It brought tears to my eyes to see her in service to others.
She is just a teen.
She is learning to follow Christ.
It was so awesome to see these teens, whom I have only known for the last 3 years, yet I feel like I have known some of them forever, in these pics, serving the Lord and each other.
It was a surprise. Dave and I didn't know they were going to do this. (he was in some of the pics as well as he was the male chaperone on last year's trip).

Teens are vital to today's church.
I was touched.

Now hug your teen if you have one and tell them how important they are.
Help them to get integrated into your own local church.
Help them to serve and use their giftings in the church setting, if they are not doing so already.
Encourage them.
Pray for them.

You, too, will be touched.