A fifteen year old is a blessing too!

Early morning giggles at the breakfast table with legos and muffins. : )

   At the doctor's office this morning, I had a little chat with the nurse who was checking my blood pressure.  She asked if I was having a boy or a girl.  After I replied that I was having a girl, she said that she had a special bond with her girls when they were growing up...that is until the teen years hit.  She then said something like "And then we got through that and I loved them again."  She was being lighthearted about it, even trying to be a little funny, but really how sad is that?  

   I understand that as children grow and change, the way that we relate with them grows and changes too.  But so often people paint such an ugly picture of the teen years.  When people hear that I have a fifteen year old, it is not uncommon to see expressions of pity on their faces.  They actually feel sorry for me and they express their sympathy. They automatically envision a rebellious, lazy, person who has no respect for authority.  When did this become the "norm" for teens in our culture?  

   I see the teen years...actually every year of life...as training for becoming an adult.  I think a big part of the problem with some teens begins very early on when parents least expect it.  The problem begins with not taking the sin of small children seriously.  It quickly becomes sin in grown children and then it's much harder to deal with.  One stage leads into another.  Small child becomes a teen.  A teen becomes an adult.  Aren't God's expectations and standards always the same no matter what our age?

   The problem is with our expectations.  I know that I cannot control how my children turn out.  But my aim is to train them to live godly lives.  I expect them to obey my authority, thereby obeying God's authority.  I will not expect the teen years to be a terrible trial.  I will expect them to be precious.  A time of life like no other.  A time when my children are on their way to becoming adults.  A time when our relationship continues to grow stronger and stronger as far as it depends on me.  A time when the bar doesn't get lowered, it gets raised.  Can I just go against the grain here and say "Expect the teen years to be full of some of the most amazing blessings you've ever experienced with your children."  There will be trials, but we don't dread these years.  Instead, we look to the Lord with unending hope that he will guide us in his truth and lead us in the way we should go.  

Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, 

who walks in his ways!

You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;

you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;

your children will be like olive shoots around your table.

Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD.

Psalm 128:1-4