Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Teen Supreme

    The more we talk with those around us, the general consensus continues to be that the world is getting more and more out of control.  Nothing is as it seems and there's craziness everywhere we turn.  As a Mom, trying to raise stand-up kids in this type of environment, can be intimidating, to say the least.  It can be down right scary and totally depressing and gloomy to think about tackling the daunting task of protecting your kids into today's society.  Nate and I know with the world becoming so polarized, with that bad, comes incredible good.
     A couple of years ago, Nate and I had the opportunity to teach 14-16 year olds in our church.  These teenagers were hands down, some of the most incredible kids we have ever met.  They were strong in their faith and clung tight to their values.  They weren't daunted or afraid at all of what the world was throwing at them.  Instead, they were brave and fearless and facing life without hesitation. It was a great year to bask in their light and example.  Now, they are all around the world, on missions, preaching the gospel and facing the world with that same bravery we saw years ago.  We knew after teaching them, that these next generations of youth would continue to prevail against society's standards and come out on top.
    Enter these 3 amazing girls.  There's an incredible program up at the University of Utah for siblings of special needs kids.  Every friday night, high school and college students volunteer their night to spend one-on-one time with these siblings.  Our kids got lined up with these 3 teenage girls from a local high school and it was love at first sight amongst all of them.  These girls give up every friday night to play with our kids, without pay or any recognition.  Our kids talk about them all week and can't wait to see them.  Every night as we drop the kids off, Nate and I always reminisce that we were the worst teenagers.  We would have never given up our friday nights to hang out with some kids, unpaid.  We love that those girls love our kids and we will be referencing them and their kindness for the rest of our lives.  I hope the rest of their lives are infinitely blessed for the simple service they have given our family every friday night.
   This my friends, is why we are all going to be okay.  The youth out there will make sure of it.  Sure the world can be pretty scary, but if we stop reading and listening to the news for a moment, take a breath, and look around, there's a lot of miracles and beautiful, kind deeds taking place all around us. We are blessed.



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