Being a Teenager

Most of you that read this blog with have already gotten an email from me about the situation that my sister in law's 2 grandsons are dealing with, but just a quick recap. One is 15 and tried to commit suicide last night, ran away, got caught by the cops, and is now in Juvenile - probably the best place for him. The other a 7th grader has been lying to his mom, getting into all kinds of trouble, and just recently was threatened by a gang member. That's the brief version. My niece Sarah, almost 16, has also been doing some crazy stuff like skipping school, smoking, and staying out all hours. She's also threatened to run away just recently. Those are just 3 young people that I know of that are dealing with "issues". It just breaks my heart.
My husband had 5 calculators stolen out of his classroom last week. Nobody seems to know anything about it. I'm sure someone does, but nobody would ever tell on a friend! That doesn't seem like as big a deal as attempting suicide or running away, but it's still stealing!
I know when I was a teenager, it doesn't seem like it was SO long ago, there were a lot of things that I dealt with, but it was more like not being popular, and not having designer clothes. I never thought about killing myself or running away. I also never got into that kind of trouble. Maybe I was just a goodie goodie girl, but I know I did my share of crazy stuff in high school too. I guess I'm writing all this to say it's just crazy what our teenagers are exposed to and what they have to deal with every day! I don't remember the talk about gangs while I was in high school, I'm sure there were some, but nothing like today. I know there have been gangs forever in the big city, but it just seems like they are everywhere now. I mean the town my sister in law lives in is small and they have a gang. I just can't imagine that.
I just want us all to be more aware that teenagers of this society are in desperate need of our prayers.
On another subject, today is the one year anniversary of the terrible crash that took the lives of 5 Taylor University students and injured 4. To find out more go to www.tayloru.edu There is going to be a memorial service tonight at Taylor to celebrate the lives of the 5 that went on to be with Jesus, and to see what God has done in the lives of the other 4. This is a tough time for family members and for students at Taylor. I remember when one of the girls that lived on my floor was killed in a car accident when I was a junior at Taylor. I'm just remembering how awful that was and this is at such a larger scale. Please pray for the Taylor family.
I'm so greatful for a God that is bigger than all our problems and knows exactly what's going on in each of our lives!