Helping Your Teen Mature: Practice #1

PRESENCE

Cultivating anything in life demands presence. Consider the farmer who cultivates her land to get it ready for crops. She must be out in the dirt, amongst the elements of the weather, insects and everything else that comes with cultivating. The simplicity of presence is required. In like fashion our teens are in a season of life that is in need of our presence more than ever. All of the habits that have been formed for our teens during their childhood years now need those same habits modeled even more in the daily rhythms of life. By presence our teens also need us to engage their lives with them. Consider the person who travels to a foreign land in order to serve a particular people group. That person would move in, learn the cultural language and rhythms, in order to win the hearts and trust of the people. Our knowledge of our teens can hinder our ability to win their hearts and trust. We seem to believe that because we know them, we no longer need to win their hearts and earn their trust. This is the illusion that can strain the relationship between the parent and their teen. The greater work during this season of life is not on the obedience of the teen. Rather the greater work is on the posture of constant learning of the parent towards their teen. Presence is the burden of the parent, and must be a priority when it comes to cultivating a healthy mindset.

Be Inspired!