For young people

As a middle-aged woman, I look at this time and shake my head thinking, "This must be the most difficult time in history to be a young person."  For us, being good was good grades, being polite to teachers, and teamwork with classmates.

When I was young, you went to school, hoped to find a husband, and have a family.   I should clarify.  I was born in 1960.  My first words were, "Oh for Christ's sake."  Now I hope that's true about me.  But then, my Dad said it a lot. People were promiscuous, deciding marriage wasn't necessary.  Recreational drug use was on a rampage.  We had the world's worst hairstyles imaginable.  There were hippies, surfers, straight laced, and people like me that shouted, "I'm an individual!"  Divorce was becoming common.  My Dad left when I was 12.   We were taught in school that the world was over-populated so we shouldn't have many kids.   A lot didn't.  When I got to college my professor said, "This is the most boring generation I've ever seen.  You don't dress alike.  You don't have a cause.  You just don't care."  

We checked our watches to see when class would be over.  The apathetic ones.  We saw what drugs did, experienced the affects of divorce, saw the Vietnam war on TV. We just wanted to survive.  When I got married, we had eight parents.  Christmas was, well, interesting.  Personally, I chose to be different by becoming a Christian.  It was a great choice- He saved my life, literally. Christmas became about Jesus.  A wonderful celebration.  By God's grace, I'm still with my first husband.  I tease him and say, "You're the best husband I ever married."

So, what advice would I give myself looking back?  

1. Stick with the Bible, it's been good for centuries.  It's accurate and written by God.  He created us, He knows how we were designed to live.  Read it every day.  Life's not easy you'll need His Word to help you through.
2. Don't worry about being or looking cool.  It's more important to be yourself, what God wants you to be.  One day being cool won't matter at all. At my age, keeping your hair colored is a challenge. : )
3. Trust your instincts.  God gave them to you for a reason.  If something doesn't "feel" right it probably isn't.  Walk away.
4. Talk to your parents or someone older at Church you can trust.  If you're unsure about something ask what they think.  They have a lot more experience than you realize.

Psalms 119:9-16

9 How can a young person live a clean life?
By carefully reading the map of your Word.
10 I'm single-minded in pursuit of you;
don't let me miss the road signs you've posted.
11 I've banked your promises in the vault of my heart
so I won't sin myself bankrupt.

The same verse from the New King James Version.  It's much easier to memorize.
Ps 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.
NKJV

12 Be blessed, God;
train me in your ways of wise living.
13 I'll transfer to my lips
all the counsel that comes from your mouth;
14 I delight far more in what you tell me about living
than in gathering a pile of riches.
15 I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you,
I attentively watch how you've done it.
16 I relish everything you've told me of life,
I won't forget a word of it.
THE MESSAGE