FORGETTABLE FACT 
In ancient Rome it was considered a sign of leadership to be born with a crooked nose.

POTENT QUOTABLES
"Love is the great conqueror of lust." ~ C.S. Lewis

"The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost."
~ G.K. Chesterton

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Weekly Happenings... Sunday Nights - 5/18  LAST RYM before SUMMER BREAK! 6th-12th Graders wanting to deepen their spiritual walk are encouraged to attend RYM on Sunday evenings at AC3 @ 6:07 PM.  We'll play some games, hang out and discover what God says about important issues that affect you and your friends today. Thursday Nights  - Da Girls meet with Jenn weekly @ 5:30 PM. Don't miss the fun as you discover God's will for today's young women. Guys Extra Activities - Contact Jeff He He. Youth activities, schedule changes and updates will be highlighted here or on  the RYM Google Calendar. If you have any questions regarding events, please reach Jenn Bartlett, our Youth Director, at 425.346.0207 jenn@ac3.org.   Now at  RYM Calendar SUMMER Events!

5/01/08 Finding Their Place in God's Story (Part 2)

Jenn has found some excerpts from Youth Culture 101 by Walt Mueller that she thought would be helpful for parents as they try to nurture good spiritual health in their students.  Enjoy!

Part 2 - HELPING YOUR TEENAGER FIND THEIR PLACE IN GOD'S STORY "Adolescents are nothing if not spiritual. Spirituality emerges in adolescence with a vengeance." --EUGENE PETERSON 

"We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me." --COLOSSIANS 1:28-29 .

Just What Is Spiritual Health?

I grew up in a suburban Philadelphia neighborhood filled with boys. Our after-school hours and summer days were spent in search of adventure. Our greatest thrill was to indulge our exuberance by engaging in what seemed like risky escapades, chosen because they stretched the limits our parents had set for us.

One of the places we liked to go was a local apple orchard. This promised land was reached by a short bike ride over some back yards and through a small section of woods. When we were younger, we'd stand back and watch the big boys scale the eight foot metal fence, run through the orchard, disappear over a hill, and come back with big red apples. However, eating the ill-gotten apple was only part of the reward. The real prize was making it back without the orchard keeper unloading a burst of rock salt from his gun into our rear ends.

While none of us had ever actually seen the orchard keeper or heard his gun fire (he and his gun were most likely an urban legend), we nervously cheered and feared for the guys all the same. We'd watch in awe as these heroes came back over the fence and proudly feasted on their apples. This ritual served as a neighborhood rite of passage to separate the "men" from the boys.

When I was finally old enough to go over the fence, I was confronted with a major dilemma: Would I disobey my parents and step beyond the limits they'd set for me, or would I follow the crowd into the orchard? While I can't remember my mom and dad ever telling me not to go into the orchard, I was smart enough to know that if I was ever caught, facing my dad would be much worse than running into the orchard keeper. As I look back on that day, I clearly remember three distinct feelings.

The first was of safety and security as I stood outside the fence. I was where I was supposed to be--right where I belonged.

The second feeling was one of being torn in two as I paused to straddle the top of the fence, trying to decide whether or not to continue on my journey. One leg hung on the side where the rest of me belonged, while the other dangled toward danger.

The third feeling came as I finally went over the fence and into the orchard. Strangely, it was nothing like the sense of freedom I'd expected. Instead, it was an almost paralyzing sense of being where I didn't belong. Even though I gave in to the pressure and ran for an apple, I wanted nothing more than to be out of there. And quite honestly, I didn't care if I ever went back in again.

The spiritual development and health of our teenagers is very similar to my experience at that apple orchard. My kids and your kids are spiritual beings who will grow up to fit into one of three basic categories that coincide with my experience of going over the fence.

The first category includes those who give in to the voices of culture that invite them to climb over. Shaped by society and its institutions, they find it easier to be where everyone else is, even though they don't belong there. They've opted out of playing the part they were created for in God's story. They grow to be adults whose personal sense of right and wrong hinges on what everybody else is doing. They refuse to live under Jesus Christ. Before long they get used to being in the orchard, and they eventually call it home. They have no interest in God or a place for him in their lives. They're spiritually unhealthy.

The second category of people is filled with leg-dangling fence sitters. Unwilling to commit themselves to either side of the fence, they straddle the top and wind up living on both sides. When it's most convenient and easier to be in the orchard, they jump in. When it's to their advantage to be outside the fence, they stay out. Their habit of making decisions based on what's easiest or most convenient at any given moment leads them to lives characterized by a commitment to be uncommitted. They know they belong in a relationship with God. They've heard about the place they should hold in God's story. They know right from wrong. They talk about God, read their Bibles from time to time, pray out loud, and go to church. But their faith makes little difference in how they live their lives day to day. Their fence-sitting causes them to forfeit their spiritual health.

The last group of people are those who understand why they were created and the roles they were made to play in God's story. Even though it's not always easy, they go against the flow of the crowd and stay outside the fence. They're in vital relationships with the living God. Their commitment to God is characterized by a deep, passionate faith. They understand that Jesus came to usher in the kingdom of God and that their place in that kingdom is to live in obedience to Christ. Even so, their sinful natures still exist--they're often tempted to climb the fence, and they do make mistakes. But because their desire to love and serve God remains throughout their struggles, they never lose sight of the fact that God has called them to lives outside the orchard. They've experienced the freedom of faith and obedience, and as a result--they don't ever want to leave. These teenagers will grow up as spiritually healthy adults.

Take a minute and think ahead a few years. Imagine your kids as young adults standing near that apple orchard. Where do you want them to be? Inside the fence, on the fence, or outside the fence? What do you want to see when you look into their eyes? Someone who has turned his back on God? Someone who only talks about God? Or someone who is committed to living under God's rule and reign? My greatest desire as a father is to see my kids standing outside the fence--not because I've said so, but because they know that's where they belong. I long for them to be spiritually healthy.

Jesus defines spiritual health and the spiritually healthy person during a discussion with a lawyer. He frames his definition in the form of a commandment: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." And then he continues, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:30-31).

According to Jesus, living a life of spiritual health outside the fence is living a life of commitment. The first commitment involves focusing all that you have, are, and ever will be on loving God. The second calls us to serve God by loving others in the same way Jesus loves us.

Let me encourage you to make the spiritual health of your kids your goal by first making it your prayer. The next time you sit at the table with your family, quietly look at each of your kids. Think about God's desire to see your children realize their created purpose by loving him with all of their being. Silently pray for each one and watch what happens when, over time, God's will for the spiritual health of your kids becomes part of your will as you parent them through the adolescent years and into adulthood. I have often prayed, "God, please grow Bethany (Caitlin/Josh/Nathaniel) to love you with all of her heart, mind, soul, and strength. Give her the compassion and sensitivity to love others as herself. Give her the strength to say yes to you and no to going over the fence." I'm convinced this is the most important, valuable, and necessary prayer we could ever pray for our kids.

I trust that reading this book has served not only to increase your knowledge and understanding of the world in which your kids are growing up, but that it's also raised your level of concern and prepared you for the reality of raising kids in today's world. After all, a lot of the teenage values, attitudes, and behaviors we've examined are horrifying. But the kids who stand the best chance to resist buying into those dangerous messages are the kids whose parents are committed to leading them to spiritual health and maturity on God's terms. Part 1  Part 3  Purchase Youth Culture 101 here.

If you have any RYM questions, please feel free to contact me! 
Jenn Bartlett