FAMILY PLUS High School - May 8

Happy Mothers Day to all you moms of high schoolers!

We are in the middle of our series called "Upside Down" and are discussing weekly some of the difficult teachings of Jesus...specifically those in Matthew 5. Today we capped of a discussion I began this past Wednesday night covering what it means when Jesus asks us to give up our kingdoms for His.

This week was particularly difficult as I HATE talking about "behavior stuff" with teenagers. I believe that when students encounter Christ they will experience a life change and their behavior will reflect that. BUT - given the time of year and that my audience is high schoolers - I tackled some behavior issues that typically coincide with prom and graduation (both coming this month).

What is particularly striking to me is that Bruce's message today from Galatians reiterated our teaching about experiencing a changed life...choosing His Kingdom over my own. We already plan redundancy in our messages to students (repetition, repetition, repetition), but when we get (by Holy Spirit working) a confirmation from outside the District - I'm VERY encouraged about what students are being exposed to.

My biggest challenge for you this week comes as a minister who is also a parent. Be willing to ask your student difficult questions about what they are doing, where they are going, who they will be with, and the supervision they'll have when away from you. This is the time of year (end of school and in the summer) where students get sidetracked and can make some poor decisions. Opportunities to step out-of-bounds are presented to your student daily...but there's just something about this time of year that makes it feel like our guard is not as high as it is usually.

I'm so appreciative that I can be on the journey with you. For those of you who work in our younger age group levels - thank you SO MUCH for being a fellow minister to my son. I SO appreciate your encouragement to him and how you minister to me through him. As always, please let me know if I can pray about anything for you.

-Michael