Living with Teenagers

Right now we have three teenagers in the house. One 17 year old boy, and 2 13 yr old boys. That means we have no food, deep voices, big feet, and lots of noise. 

Terrible twos have nothing on the teenage years. These boys really like to share their opinions. Loudly, looming over me, with their taller than me stature. Sometimes they make me cry, just like when they were little. How does that happen? They have become more eloquent in their speaking than when they were little, but sometimes the attitude is just the same!

I do see many glimpses of maturity though. So many in fact, that I hardly think of these big footed, taller than me young men as toddlers anymore. I love this stage of life with them. Watching them learn tough life lessons, branch out into their own interests, and apply Biblical principles to their everyday lives has been rewarding this far. I know there are many teen years to come for them, just 2 more for Samuel (how can that be?!) and many decisions to be made. The risk of a bad, life-altering decision being made is very real, and I don't deny that when I think of them growing up. I do pray that they will continue to make good decisions though. I know they all have active prayer lives also, and that is a positive step toward making good decisions. 

The other night I had gone to see Samuel play in a baseball game by myself. He wanted me to follow the bus and eat supper with them when they stopped. As a mom of a teenage boy, I know invitations like that don't happen all the time so I went! A couple of moms were there and we sat together. While I was eating I looked behind me and saw one of the players eating by himself. I got Samuel's attention and motioned for him to sit with the boy. He shook his head and gestured in a way that it wasn't a big deal and he would stay where he was. I said ok, and turned around.  The very next thing I know is Samuel moving his food to sit with this boy. My smile was huge! They talked and laughed together. The moms I was with told me to tell him thank you and I thanked God for Samuel's kind heart. 

Samuel had had a tough game. Things didn't go his way. He could have had a bad attitude, sulked, and thrown a fit but he didn't. He remained respectful, smiled, and cheered his team on, and things turned around for him. He hit his first double that night! 

I went to bed bragging on him to my mom, dad, and Stephen and thanking God for Samuel. Oh, that boy can make some dumb mistakes, but he can do some really great things also. I don't always talk about the good I see, but I'm going to try to do better.