Hello everybody,

Phew, we have gotten one group of young people graduated from high school, and another group is starting high school. In the next four years anything can happen. Some teens will complete high school with no problems at all, and some teens will struggle with the transition from child to young adult. It feels like a toss of a coin on how well our teens do, and in a lot of ways it is.

From day to day our teens are rubbing shoulders with all types of teens, and adults in this race. Many teens will become lost on the path, and may not finish the race. They may decide to follow the drums they hear within their heads, rather than the sobering voices and counsel of loving parents and adults around them. Some teens will follow the path closely until the last leg of the race, and make a u-turn, or change directions altogether, and still there will be others who complete the course, only to listen to that voice a few years down the road.

We are in a very vulnerable position. We can only watch the process of maturity. We offer guidance, and widom. We give consequences to discourage poor decisions, but we have no guarantee that the steps we take will ensure success. Although it feels like all odds go against our success in helping our teens through this tumuultous age in their lives, we can't give up.

There are thousands of decisons that our teens will make. Hopefully, our teens will make those decisions with our input. Hopefully, we won't have to revert to consequences too often to get the teen to do what is in their best interest to do. We can only provide guidance the best way that we know how.

This time will pass by fast. So enjoy this time period with your teen, and remember prayer, and laughter, can make a bumpy ride much smoother.

Enjoy the school year.