Victory! And a talk about teenagers...

Hi everyone, remember that tennis tournament I was telling you that I was training for? Well, it finally came last weekend. It was really, really, really hard, but I got to the finals and won! Thank God for ice water, hats and sunscreen! It was really hot out on the court, I think someone told me that the heat index was 120 or some other crazy number. I am having a bit of trouble moving around today, but that usually passes within a few days.


On a different note, I have been reading this book called Do Hard Things and thought it might be worth mentioning. It talks about how the new teenager generation is uncessary and a waste of time. The teenager was invented only about 70 years ago, before that there were only two classes of people, child and adult.
Before, (when things worked the way they were supposed to) when a child grew up and was able to be responsible and was able to work, he or she was classified as an adult, this usually happend around the age of 12 or 13. There was no 5 to 8 year period in a person's life where they went to the mall with their friends and played games for hours on end. You get the idea. They were called young adults, not teenagers.
When someone says the word "teenager" the first few things that pop into their heads are usually the words, rebelious, self willed, doesn't take instruction, strong headed and emotional. These are the thoughts that our culture has trained us to think when we think about young adults. We don't expect much from the younger generation these days.
A young adult from the ages of 12 to 19 is definitely capable of doing great things for God and for others. You don't have to have some major ministry or work a real job, you can minister in little ways, like doing your chores without being asked, or volunteering to help a friend in a project that he or she needs help in. I have found that helping my father in the little ways that I could when I was young has led me to good things. When I was little I would watch him leave for the office everyday (like almost every little girl does) and think, I want to go! So one day I asked him if there was anything I could do to help him at the office, and he told me that if I wanted to be of use in the future I should learn how to type, spell and communicate well. When I was 11 I started training in all of these things and today I am typing at 100 wpm and I go to the office with him on a regular basis to help with the day to day paper pushing.
My point is, do something! There are all kinds of things that God gives each individual to do to help, it is up to us if we embrace these opportunites or not. About 70 to 80 years ago, the young woman would be helping their mother and grandmother in the kitchen and around the house. And the young men would be out working with their dad and grandfater, hunting, fishing or building something. My point, young people used to do stuff, stuff that was actually productive.
Anyways, I have been thinking about this a lot lately and wanted to tell you my thoughts. I think it is amazing how far we have gone as a country and a society in just a hundred years or so. Let me know your thoughts on this topic, thanks!
Special thanks to Carl C. He got me the book Do Hard Things, it has been a great blessing to me.

God Bless Texas, Abigail Prudence