Here is something that amazes me...finally I see it in print somewhere.

http://climate.weather.com/articles/teentv110301.html

What are they thinking? Could it be true? .... come on already. As a parent, we need to take a stand. We are way too casual as parents........ and thats not cool.

Did you know that the word teenager was just invented? Yes its true, it has not been around that long. Just a 100 years ago, we were either considered a child or an adult and then just old. When our youth becomes of the ripe old age of 13 14 or so - they were working, holding responsibility, taking ownership of the tasks at hand... and YES they did a great job. Our youth today is not being challenged. They have talents and energy that is untapped and being wasted on things that don't matter. They are the generation that is forgotten and labeled as lazy and a host of other labels. If we expect immaturity and irresponsibility from them and ourselves, then that is exactly what we get. We are pushing those traits in our youth back to the 19-23 years of age mark. We are holding them back instead of leading them.

As my son grows and matures as does his peeps - I find it amazing how certain lines of clothing comes into play and then out again. I know of certain teenagers who change their entire clothing lines according to what is hot or not. Where does this comes from? I would say some of it comes from the media and tv shows - magazines etc. I was telling the folks in the office just this morning about the one character trend that shines brightly on tv shows today. The father in a tv show is made to look, act and be the village/family idiot. He can't make a decision, he can't decide anything, he is made fun of and screws up everything! The family dog is respected more. Over the next week, keep that in the back of your mind and email me your discovery. What else are you seeing? Maybe the article above?

As a dad I want to lead my family. I want to be the best example I can be to show my son and his friends and the kids I am associated with what it means to lead a family, to love God, to serve Him and others, and to love my wife. I want them to know that they have God given talents and they can use them. I think of the many college grads that leave the universities today with a degree and still have no idea what to do with their lives....

Jesus has called us as Christians to be different!! We are the salt of the earth! I think our kids are lazy because we are lazy as parents. We are lazy at leading them. We are lazy at being that good example. We are lazy with our attitudes and we are lazy in our faith and trust in God.

There is an incredible level of character under the surface of our children. We need to help them find it....... let me share some of the things we can do.

This is from a blog a few weeks back that I have printed and have been praying over since then. This is from Cindy Beall... great stuff Cindy! Her blog can be read here - http://cindybeall.com/

1. Teach them to love Jesus with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength.
2. Teach your child how to handle criticism. If all they ever receive is praise, they will not be prepared for the real world.
3. Reject entitlement. Too many kids think that they are entitled to things. Teach them to earn things instead.
4. Teach them to earn more than they make when they have a job. Having a strong work ethic will get them everywhere.
5. Teach them to honor commitment and not to give up when failure enters the picture. Your best way to teach this is by your example.
6. Teach them humility. When a child thinks he/she is far better than others, it’s highly unattractive and often repels friends.
7. Don’t permit dishonesty. This is absolutely unacceptable in our family. Period.
8. Don’t make any subject off-limits. If they want to talk about something you are not comfortable with, do it anyway. If they don’t talk to you, they’ll talk to someone.
9. Teach them to be a respecter of persons. My son knows that disrespect basically means that they don’t think that person is important.
10. Don’t be afraid to tell them you don’t know something. While you may be the parent, you don’t have all the answers.


Loved ones, get out of your comfort zone and "Do the hard things". I think our expectations of our children are set way too low. They need the challenge .... we need the challenge.

Off to have lunch now with Kyle and some of "MyKids" -

Lonnie~