Good question. We have talked a lot about family and that aspect of the Family/Youth direction we are taking. So, what about the youth?
Let’s start with this idea. Have you ever been completely unprepared for something? Have you gotten to class and someone asked, “Are you ready for the exam?” and your response was, “What exam?” There are moments in life when we wish we were better prepared or equipped for the challenges. The core of the youth work at Palm Beach Lakes is equipping. We want the youth to be completely equipped, thoroughly furnished, battle-ready for the life that lies ahead. The truth is, our youth are already facing tough decisions and it won’t get any easier.
The ideal situation is that the youth look back fondly on their time with God’s family and the youth group after graduation and that they feel like they are ready for the challenges. When the challenges come, they will think, “Oh, we talked about this,” or “I already made my decision about that.” When things get difficult for them, they will know that they can call the people that helped prepare them, like parents, family, mentors and others. These contacts will be a lifeline for them. They will be a sounding board for ideas and a way for the youth to work through faith struggles and life choices with someone they feel comfortable sharing. Things get exponentially more complex as we go through life. I must confess that I still call my Mom and Dad, Grandfather and some of you at PBL about these things. The advice I get ranges from, “I am sorry, that is part of life son,” to “Why don’t you look at it this way.” All of it is a lifeline to people that I know love me and want to see me succeed. People that have been there for me in the past and that I trust will continue to be a phone call away.
That is the core of it all—preparation. There will still be a lot of the same activities and same people involved. There will also be new activities and new faces, but all with the same focus. It will be dynamic, fun, edifying, faith-building and spiritually cultivating. It will also be intense, demanding and rewarding. They will need all of us, the family, to help make this happen. Parents should also know that the single greatest influence on a child is the parent. Years of scientific research and thousands of years of Biblical examples attest to this. When the parents are not spiritually active and leading by example in the home, the odds that the child will grow to be spiritually mature after high school are cut in half. That means it could go either way, like spiritual Russian roulette. That is great news of us as parents. That means that just by doing what I promised I would do when I was baptized—following the commandments of God, putting on Christ’s likeness and producing fruits of righteousness—I have increased the chances that my children will do the same. What a blessing!
So, here is the challenge to all of us. We want every youth that graduates to be prepared and to know these three things: that they are loved, that they belong, and that they are victorious. If the youth can pass on into adulthood knowing/understanding these things—(1) that no matter what they do or what happens, they are unconditionally loved; (2) that they belong in the family of God; (3) that they are living victoriously in Christ because Satan is the victim not them—who will be able to stop them? So, get involved in their lives and show them what it means to be a follower of Christ. What we don’t want is for them to get to that final exam with God and say, “What exam?”