Much like the National Baseball Hall of Fame for Major League baseball players, each participant, upon induction, receives the coveted American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame ring and officially becomes one of the Cooperstown Dreams Park Little Majors.  The Kodak photo of each player with his teammates is affixed to the Commemorative Induction Plaque for future enshrinement on the walls of the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame.  Our family will cherish this moment for the rest of our lives!

(Congratulations to Indians for finishing 10th out of 104 teams)

While away, I had a chance to reflect on life in general and the Lord revealed several foundational shattering truths that I plan to share in subsequent blog posts.  These truths challenged me to think about life in a different way and challenged long held beliefs that have become TRADITIONS.

I use to believe that life is a series of peaks and valleys – you go through a dark time and then you go to the mountaintop – criss-crossing back and forth.  Our African-American Baptist tradition supports this view and encourages believers to praise God while you’re on the mountain and double your praise if you’re in the valley.  We often hear a familiar colloquialism of the faith: “YOUR BREAKTHROUGH IS ON THE WAY.”

I NO LONGER BELIEVE THAT & HERE’S WHY…

The good that happens in life and the bad that happens run on parallel tracks. At all times you either have something good AND something bad in your life – BOTH OCCURING SIMULTANEOUSLY!

In case you haven’t figured it out, life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one.   The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; He’s more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.  We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life.  The goal is to grow in character, in Christ-likeness.  Sometimes it takes bad situations to make that happen.

What’s your take?

I’ve been thinking alot about parenting lately. Maybe it is because we have three kids at home, ages 6, 11, and 13.  I think everyone would admit that there is a point in a teen’s life
when the influence of his/her parents becomes less, and the influence
of their friends becomes greater.  It seems that the age at which the parents’ influence drops dramatically happens somewhere around 13- to 15-years old.

As I reflected on my life as a child, the influence I perceive that
I have with my own kids, and my informal survey, I charted it like
this…

As a parent, the awareness of loss of influence can be alarming if
you didn’t see it coming. So be warned young parents, I have just given
you a glimpse of the future.

Here is the key learning: Environments matter.  Who
my daughter is influenced by as a 15-year old is dependent greatly on
the environments that my wife and I placed her in as a 10- and 12- and
14-year old.

It’s a little early to tell whether we will survive life with
teenagers, but here is the advice I would give parents of pre-teens…

• Get involved in a great church with strong youth leaders.
• As they start middle school, don’t give them the option to stay home from the youth program.
• Find a school that has strong values and where
  there is good chance they will be able to find solid friends. That
  might mean paying for private school or moving to a better school
  district.
• Get them in situations where they are hanging with young adults who are following God.
• Teach them the joy of serving when they are very young.
• Let them participate in events where there is a good chance they might take a step spiritually.

Oh, and one last word of advice for those with teenagers—stop
lecturing and start listening. Stop giving direction and start asking
questions.

It’s your turn now…is my chart way off?