Last week Thursday marked 6 weeks that (most) students have been in school. First, I am not a licensed psychologist, but over the last eleven years in youth ministry, I've noticed a trend once we hit 6 weeks into the school year.
"Can you pray for me? I'm really struggling." "Everything feels really hard right now." "I'm really anxious. I can't sleep at night." "I'm really depressed. I don't know what to do." "My best friend decided to ditch me for a guy." "I can't keep my mind focused on the game." I don't know what this phenomena is but it seems as though each school year as we hit the six to seven week mark, all of these things start to bubble to the surface in our teenagers. Maybe they're things that have been present since week one of the school year, but now reality is settling in. "The honeymoon is over," as one teacher put it. This year, I finally have given a name to it: the six-week slump. By this time, students have adapted to the new routine of the school year and the 'newness' of a new school, new schedule, new classes, and all things 'new' have worn off. I've wondered that after six weeks of a new school year, real life has settled in for our students and maybe some hard realities are hitting them and life just feels really tough. That one friend he/she had in elementary school is too involved with another friend or maybe even a relationship and doesn't have time for him/her anymore. The fall sports seasons are winding down and either it's a great thing or a really hard thing. The day-in-day-out routine of practices and games is tiresome and the student is ready for a break. That one class isn't getting any easier and it's almost the end of the first quarter and your student is wondering, when will this all make sense to me? Because of these realities or other situations going on, students start to question their identity, purpose and belonging. There are more outbursts, there are more tears, and there are questions of "why?" and wondering if Jesus even cares. You could say that it's a time and period when students feel really low and potentially anxious. Regardless of what our students are experiencing, and based on past experience, these six to eight weeks into the school year can be rocky. Situations like those listed above or others can cause students to really start to question their identity, purpose, and belonging. That's when we as parents and the church link arms even tighter and remind our students that because of Jesus, they are loved, they matter, and they belong. I'm curious to know if you've noticed this in your teenager during their Middle School years or if you're noticing it now. If you're an educator, coach, or someone that works with teenagers in some capacity, what do you notice around the six-week mark?
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May you dare to believe that God is in control this year, that his plan for you is good and wherever he has placed you is on purpose for his purposes.
May you dare to believe that your identity, your worth, and your value, are not found in what you do, in what others say, by what you have, by your worst moment, or by your best moment, but that what God says about you matters most. May you dare to believe that God is for you and not against you. May you dare to believe that you are not alone, but may you dare to believe you walk in the power of Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit, guiding each step. May you dare to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, growing to be more and more like him every day so others can know him. May you dare to share the hope and peace that you have that goes beyond human understanding May you dare to believe that there are followers of Jesus, standing with you and for you as you live out his plan and purpose for your life. Amen. Just this morning as I was taking my dogs for a walk, I was listening to a podcast in which the hosts were having a discussion about discipleship, specifically how we disciple our kids/students.
There were so many thought-provoking things that caused me to pause and later re-listen to the podcast as I took my own notes and pondered for a bit. Some of what was shared affirmed what we as a NextGen team as Century believe is our mission: to resource and support parents as they lead and guide their child’s discipleship journey. As we’ve said before, parents are the #1 spiritual influence in the life of a child, whether ‘spirituality' is present or not. The church is also one of the greatest influences, which is why we partner with families to leverage our combined influence so that students grow to be disciples of Jesus who make disciples of Jesus. One thing that was reiterated over and over again in the podcast was this: a compelling faith in a parent and a richness of living in community with other disciples of Jesus are the greatest catalysts for launching our kids into the real world. Even if there is a season where our teenagers are pushing back on the truth of Scripture and the building blocks of their spiritual lives, if they have witnessed a compelling faith in their parents and see that faith lived out by other disciples of Jesus in community, those teenagers will still come back to a life that abides in Christ. The question we have to ask ourselves as parents and influencers in the life of kids/teenagers (because research has shown that the influence of other adults who follow Jesus on a kid/teenager matters a lot!) is what does a compelling faith look like? What does living in community with other disciples of Jesus look like? For us at Century, we’ve defined a ‘compelling faith’ as being a disciple of Jesus, someone who actively follows Jesus and loves people. That looks like finding our identity in Jesus alone, focusing on becoming more and more like Jesus every day, holding high and applying the Bible to our lives, worshipping God above everything else, giving spiritual gifts because we’ve been given spiritual gifts, knowing, applying, and speaking the gospel at all times, living in community with other disciples of Jesus, and being for our city and loving people wherever they are. Living in community with other disciples of Jesus means living out those 8 Characteristics (Identity, Imitation, Word, Worship, Gifts, Gospel, Community, City) with other people, joining together with the rest of the body of Christ, learning, and growing together. It’s a gift to play an active role in the lives of our own kids/teenagers, but also to play a role in the lives of other kids/teenagers. The goal, the end-game is to make disciples of Jesus who will go and make disciples of Jesus. That process and goal is not a conveyor belt producing cookie-cutter humans that know what Scripture says and have knowledge of it, but don’t act upon it. The goal is making disciples who make disciples. It’s a privilege to be a part of the work of God in the lives of others, to be asked to join in and be on mission with Jesus, being empowered by the Holy Spirit to make disciples and make his name great. |
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