Hi Parents!
I hope everyone had an enjoyable Memorial weekend! 

This week's blog focuses on "called to create."  God blesses each of us with unique gifts and calls us to create, but we all aren't given the same canvas or medium.  Romans 12:6a (NESV) says "We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us."  Some have the gift of photography, some drawing or painting, some dance, baking, writing, or building... whatever your gift, whenever we create, we start from nothing.  A painting begins as a blank canvas; a novel as a figment of an idea; a song, as a few musical notes.  God started the same way.  The world was "formless and empty" - hard to imagine, right?  But God saw potential for all of creation.  God sees what can be, even when it looks like nothing to us.  After creating the world and all that is in it, God asks Adam to participate in the creative process by naming each of the animals (Genesis 2:19-20a).  Although this invitation from God may have been intimidating, Adam met the challenge without hesitation. 

Adam was creating for an audience of ONE - ONE who has never criticized him or belittled his thoughts, one who lovingly invites him to try doing something he has never done before.  Like the Creator, we are designed to create, to imagine, to build - to make something new.  When we ignore the urge to create, our soul feels the void.  We should use our God-given talents to the best of our ability and for the good of others.  What creative skills is God calling you to use to make the world a more beautiful place?

Ask your teen...
What is one creative thing you've always wanted to try - baking a special dessert? writing a poem? building something out of wood? painting on a canvas? taking pictures?  
Challenge your teen...
Try it this week as a way to praise the God who created you!
Prayer...
Heavenly Father, you've given us the precious gift of creativity.  Help us to use our creative gifts to reflect your image.  Amen.

Hi Parents!
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NIV)

​Imagine surfing the big wave - or being in the wave pool at an overcrowded water park, waiting anxiously for the waves to push you along.  Now imagine how fun these activities would be without waves.  An overcrowded wave pool without waves is just an overcrowded pool.  Surfing would be impossible without waves.  Riding the waves provides adventure!

​In life, however, we don't like to experience rough, choppy waters, tossing and turning us until we gasp for breath.  We plead with God to take away the rough times and to make our lives perfectly smooth.  But that is like asking to surf in still waters.  Life doesn't come without waves.  Yet in rough times, God is with us and teaches us to ride out the waves so that we can experience the fullness of life. He tells us to "Carry each other's burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2 (CEB)

​Ask your child...
Look back on the rough waters in your past.  How were you able to ride out the waves?  Where was God in these times?  What have you learned that will help you to embrace new waves when they come?

Challenge your child...
Who might be in need of your support  and encouragement?  Read I Kings 19:11-13.  Where do you hear God's still, small voice calling you?  Have you become too distracted by the big things (the wind, the fire, the earthquake) to find God in the stillness and silence?  Spend some time this week asking God to help you discern the right next step.  And once you take it, ask God to show you the next and the next.

​Prayer...
God, we know your timing is perfect.  Help us to trust that you are working in our lives in ways we might never have imagined.  Amen.

Hi Parents,
​What we believe is important.  And while our beliefs may evolve throughout our lives, our teen years are often a time when we intensely engage with the formation of many of our core beliefs.  ​Parents, peers, teachers, coaches, pastors, social media, the internet, books - all these influences shape our personalities, temperaments, and beliefs during our early years.  As teens. we begin to sort through those influences to claim what we believe - and hopefully to live so that our actions reflect those beliefs.

​What if during this crucial time of belief formation, we were more intentional about exploring and claiming our faith?  Then perhaps we too would be able to say with Joshua's confidence that "I will serve the Lord," or to proclaim with Peter's certainty that Jesus is "the Christ sent from God." (Luke 9:20b)

​Our beliefs define us.  Begin now to explore your faith, to talk with your mentors, to ask faith questions, and to claim what you believe.  I pray that you and I will be defined by a deep and abiding belief in God that will guide us throughout our lives.

Ask your child...
​Has anyone asked you what you believe?

Challenge your child...
​Find a few friends with whom you can practice having open conversations about your faith.  Discuss the devotions you've read this week or what your believe about God, Jesus, the Bible, of the church.  Create an open and respectful space for dialogue and listen without interrupting.
​Write your own statement of faith.  See page 22 in the Devozine for examples.

Prayer...
Father, give me the courage to tell others what I believe, without fear of judgment or condemnation.  Amen. 
​

Hi Parents,
​Seeing is different from perceiving something with all its attributes and qualities.  We can see something with our eyes but still have some measure of selective blindness when it comes to understanding it in its fullness.  This selective blindness can affect our interactions with people.  Our hurried lives can limit our ability to see people in all their complexity and beauty.  Instead, we look for what we expect or need from another person.  Most of the time we are not being mean-spirited; this habit is simply a way of organizing our world.  But this practice does not deepen our understanding of ourselves, others, or God.  

​In Isaiah 43:19, God invites us to see differently: "I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?"  God invites us to see with a spirit of patient curiosity.  Judgment and curiosity cannot coexist.  When we judge people, we may see them, but we see them with blinders on.  We see what we are looking for with few exceptions.  This kind of seeing can inhibit our ability to be a transforming expression of God's love to them.  It can also inhibit our ability to be transformed by God through other people.

​When we make assumptions about people, we limit them and limit the way God might be active in the relationship.  On the other hand, if we can be curious about people, we are much more likely to engage them with questions, sensitivity, and understanding.  Being curious helps us to see people, but it also frees us to see the movement of God in their lives and in our own.

​Ask your child...
​Take some time to think about the people who drive you crazy or whom you avoid at all costs.  Consider what might be going on beneath their annoying habits.  When have you taken the time to discover how special another person is?  What might happen if you made this a habit?
Challenge your child...
Reveal what's real.  Letting someone see the "real you" means being open and vulnerable.  Dare to make yourself vulnerable and to show others the amazing person God created you to be.
​Prayer...
God teach us to look beyond appearances and to see people's hearts as you do.  Help us to love others inside and out.  Amen.