A Parent's Prayer for their Teen

A Parent's Prayer for their Teen
--written by JGrimes and reprinted here with her permission.  For that I am grateful...this is a beautiful prayer and well worth reading, reading, reading....

Dear God, I need to talk to you for a minute about these kids you gave me. First of all, let me make this clear. I adore them. They amaze me, a million different times throughout each day. They are clearly your creation and not my own. And for this, I am thankful. I could have never come up with something this wonderful, even if you had asked me to write out what I had in mind on paper before they were born. But, I want you to know that I am scared. The world looks to me, as their parent, to teach them and protect them, raising them to be successful adults. I wonder why, then, must the world work against me on every step? As a little girl, my precious daughter – well, actually, she is Your precious daughter – happily skipped through her day, treasuring each moment and believing anything was possible. But somewhere along the way to being a teenager, she lost her joy. Now, her days are filled with paralyzing self doubt and deceptive invitations to the path of acceptance. My adorable son, who once started each day by holding my face in his hands just to tell me he loved me, can no longer look me in the eye. He tries to hide behind walls built over time, convinced that I will never understand him. But I see through to his breaking heart, and mine breaks right along with his. It always has. Always will. These are your children. And they are perfect. How can I get them to see that? How can I protect them from the false expectations of their peers, who are all struggling to find their way just the same? How can I prove to them that they were designed to stand out, rather than to fit in? Sometimes, I watch them sleeping and this is my silent prayer for them: Hold them in your arms. Always. Reveal yourself to them often, proving that they are never alone. Help them to be strong enough to make a difference; to change the lives of others rather than changing who they are to fit in. Make their paths straight before them, just as you promised to do, and then give them the strength to follow. The decisions they make today can alter the path of the rest of their lives. Please help them to better understand this, and protect them when the time arrives to make those choices. Show them that the rules we have in place are to protect them; not to prevent them from having fun, but rather to keep them from crossing lines into adulthood long before they are ready. Help them understand that once you cross those lines, there is no going back to being a kid. Help them never to doubt you, especially when teachers and others cause them to question their beliefs. How can they ever find their true value if they believe they were an accident or grew from the ground or from monkeys of some sort? Their very existence proves that You are real, so please comfort them and give them your answers long before they need them. I pray these same things for their future spouses and children. Protect their future and create it in a way that brings them all closer together and to you in the end. And God, please keep whispering these things to them until they are ready for me to tell them face to face. Because Lord, I adore my teens, and am so thankful you chose me to be their parent. Give me what I need to do the job you asked of me, and hold me when I’m scared. I never want to let either of you down. In Jesus Name, Amen

"You want to do WHAT?!" Letting Our Children Grow Up...

When my daughter, Taylor, (18 next month) was in kindergarten, it was already clear that she was going to be one of those kids who would create her own path in this world.  Her kindergarten teacher called me to a meeting and said, "I have been teaching 5-year-old kids for more than 20 years, and I have never seen anyone do...."  Yes, that is when I knew Taylor would be her own person No Matter What!!

Being an artistic, creative, outgoing, outspoken girl, she has gone through a complete cycle of career ideas--all if which she would be perfect for:  

• When she was going through her pink, blue, purple hair stage, she wanted to be a Hairstylist.

• When she was going through her Raccoon Eye make-up days, she thought a Makeup Artist might be "it."

• Then she discovered the joy of photography, and with her artistic eye, she would have been good at it.  But then she realized she might have to take pictures of something other than herself! 

• When she went through her experimenting with drugs phase (yes, it happens.....) and went through a rehab program, she thought perhaps that was her calling (although truth be told, 8 years of college might have been a little more than she could swallow!) 

• She took a culinary class in high school and set about immediately looking into culinary schools.  At this phase, she actually applied and was accepted into a fantastic culinary arts school!

• And then, she realized that she didn't really like cooking--she liked baking and designing, so we looked into pastry arts schools, which, again, is a great fit for her!

Flash Forward to Present Day!!!

Taylor comes home last week, and being frustrated with her current job where she is not getting enough hours to support her shopping habit, she announces to me:

"MOM, I AM GOING TO BE A PIERCER!!"

Okay, so I have to tell you....while this may not be the career path I would have chosen for my little 5-year old girl, I told her to look into what she needed to do to make it happen!  The amazing thing??  She did it!  She went online to research, she made phone calls, she talked to shop owners--she actually did the work!  Now, this says a lot about her dedication to this line of work. So....

We went together to a new tattoo shop that opened less than a mile away, and talked to the owner.  We'd been in his shop several times and he is a nice guy.  You might not guess that by looking at him, but he is.  He does not do drugs, he does not drink, he has never smoked a cigarette, and he is the father of a teenage daughter.  He understands my concerns and I trust that he will take care of her....and that says a lot!

She started working there last week, and she loves it!  She has an outlet for her creative side and she is learning--not just about piercing, but about business and customer service and health issues.  Kevin (the owner) is preparing her for her future.  He insists that she learn the business inside-out--not just how to poke holes in people!!  haha

She gets up in the morning, gets her chores done, and is excited to go to work!!  She has a plan...she wants to finish this apprenticeship and then work part-time while she goes back to college for pastry arts.  This career choice will allow her to earn enough money to pay for college and possibly, one day, move out of my house!  

Yes, I always knew my daughter was not cut out for the traditional career path, but I could not be more proud of her!  She has found her passion and is now doing what it takes to Achieve Her Dreams!

As Moms, we always say "we just want our kids to be happy!"  Well, what I see is a happy little girl morphing into a happy young lady!

And that is enough for me!!

Now my son is another story all together.....

Until Next Time...