I was reading my Young Life Relationships magazine yesterday and there was a startling comment.
"I read a statistic that adolescents need five adults in their life to help shape the character and make it through these tough years." - Tracee Lee Cobb, Area director Young Life and WyldLife, Lee's Summit, MO.
Wow! Can you imagine having five adults being a positive influence on you when you were a teenager? I can only think of two or three that really helped me: my English teacher, Mrs. Terrell; my Ag teacher, Mr. Gentry; my dad.
These days though, I think it is much harder for teenagers to have adults being a positive influence. I know so many kids who do not five adults influencing them.
Tracee Lee Cobb went on to say that students need five adults, but maybe only have one. She is honored to get to be one of the five.
That really resonated with me. I have strived over the last 4 or 5 years to get to know some kids and then be a positive influence on them. God has been my guide.
A kid is on my mind. These are some of the things I have done in that situation:
Go to the high school and stalk them before school to make sure they are ok.
Write them letters.
Listen to them talk.
Sit and talk with them.
Sometimes I already know these kids and sometimes I hardly know them at all. My poor daughters have received multiple text messages from kids saying, "Hey, your mom just texted me. What the heck?" My daughters are used to it now and just explain that, "She does that sometimes when someone is on her mind!"
Some of these kids I have gotten to know really well. I have seen kids rise out of their not-so-great backgrounds and bloom into young responsible adults. I have seen kids from good families, take the next step toward college or training so they have a secure future. I have seen them laugh and seen them cry. I have read scripture, while they have released ballons in memory of a lost loved one. I have fed them. I have loved them.
I am so thankful to God for allowing me to help these kids. I came from a home with lots of problems like, anger, selfishness, meanness, lack of a Godly influence. God has helped me take those experiences and use them to help someone else. Praise God!
Will you be one adult that helps a teenager? I hope so.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.