Teenage Vibes

I realized that there is something about teenage.  These children suddenly begin to feel like young adults and want to do things differently.  Gradually, they don’t want to put on certain wears any longer, they don’t want to be treated as ‘children’, they don’t want mummy going everywhere with them any longer and now they really love to hang out with friends.  This phase is just a lot more delicate and complicated; should be treated with extra care.

This is the time teenagers feel ‘I am old enough, I know just what to do, you don’t have to baby me’.

This is the time they are more exposed to ‘peer pressure’, the time they are far more aware of their sexuality, and the time they really want to explore!  The influence of ‘modernization’ and social networks could also take its toll sometimes.  The relationship you have built over the years will really help in managing this phase because if you really are your child’s friend, he/she will still want to share with you, at least to some extent what is going on in his/her world.  Whatever relationship you had previously, it is important not to assume that your child is old enough and can really be on his/her own because more than ever, this is the time to get involved as the child, depending on his/her character, can easily be influenced into following the wrong path if care is not taken.  This is the time to continue to talk to your child at every opportunity advising him/her about life generally and sharing from your own personal experiences (after all, you were once a teenager) and also borrowing from other peoples experiences you may know.  I found out that children are particularly intrigued by their parent’s personal experiences!  Good or bad, there is always a lesson to be learnt.  Also from my experience, the personalities of my teenage children differ, whilst one is more disposed to sharing almost anything with me unprompted,   the other one will require a lot of subtle questioning before letting out anything!  I believe the risks are higher, where the child is not even sharing.  We need to be aware of this as parents and find a way of getting more involved and also we need to be careful about extending liberties to them.

The most stabilizing influence is CHRIST.  A child that has given his/her life to Christ indeed will be led by the WORD of God.  This child by the help of God, will be fully in control and not easily swayed by trends or peer pressure.  As parents, we can lead our children to Christ, we can show them the right path, continually pray for and with them, and if possible, ensure they are in institutions that align with what we consider as the right values.  But what really can we do without the help of God? We need to continually ask God to help us with this great task of parenting.

 

Prayer point; O Lord, intervene in the lives of our children; help them to know YOU indeed and depend on YOU even in their teenage years.  Help them not to be swayed by the evil influences in this world so they can keep their sanity and we can have our rest.

Isaiah 54:13-14b ‘ All our children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness they shall be established..’