Identity Theft? (Re-Post)

By MR, Age 14

The word identity is used in many different ways, but when you apply it to a person, its most essential definition is: "the distinguishing character or personality of an individual." A distinctive personality is what every teenager strives to find. "Coming into their own" or "discovering who they really are" have become common ways to define the search for an identity that a young person undergoes. Everyone is unique with indivdual ambitions, weaknesses, hopes and plans. Each of these things plays into how our ultimate identity is shaped.

In our world, there are so many places for a teenage girl to find her identity. The friends she has, the boys who like her, the clothes she wears, the music she listens to, the movies and television she watches, the places she goes, the size she wears, the way she looks, the list goes on and on. For the typical teenager, it isn't surprising if these things consume them and become their identity.

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Book Review: Scenarios For Girls

By Peter (Rediscovering the Church)

As our children get older, the decisions they need to make become harder and harder - and the consequences more lasting.

The most turbulent times of change seem to happen as kids enter Junior High and then again as they become High Schoolers.

Helping our teens navigate their way through the hormonal changes they're experiencing as well as increasing societal pressures from their peers can be difficult at best and, often, seems downright impossible.

Finding resources that can help us teach and mold our children is essential and today I'd like to tell you about a great resource that I have found for teen girls:

The Scenario's book series, written by Nicole O'Dell is a wonderful series for junior-high and high school girls which are great to read and yet will help the readers learn to make wise choices.

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Disturbing Fashion

By Beth

OK, so I don't want to be known as one of "those moms" who want their children to be social rejects by not having the 'right' clothes. I'm all for my kids looking nice and fitting in to a certain extent. I do make sure my daughter especially dresses in clothes that cover her enough as to not be a walking advertisement for sex, I do know how boys' minds work. She shops at the 'rght' stores, Abercrombie, Holister, American Eagle and Aeropastle when we can afford it. I don't know who decided these were the stores you had to shop at, but that's besides the point.

Somehow, I ended up on the email list for most of these stores. Probably because I have ordered things online in the past. Most advertisements are fine, geared toward the teen crowd, "look good for your boyfriend/girlfriend" kinds of things. Some of the pictures are a bit provocative but there hasn't been much that has disturbed me so much that I need to write about it, to let other parents know what these stores are saying to our kids.

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Best Friends?

By Mallory

For a very, very long time, I was really worried that I didn’t have a best friend. I looked for friends from elementary school until college. I looked in my neighborhood, several churches, and school for a true friend. Don’t we all want friends who are going to stick with us all the time? How about a trustworthy, loyal friend? Someone you have something in common with and can have fun with? Friends that love you no matter what?

It’s HARD to find friends like this. I remember hearing a woman I respect share about this a long time ago on a youth group trip. That was when it hit me that this is something we struggle with all through our lives. This parent volunteer expressed feelings of loneliness and told us that she eventually realized Jesus is her one true friend.

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A Whole New Life

By Jason, M.Ed., M.A.R., Headmaster

So, you’re back from camp. What a week! You had tons of fun, did things you probably never thought you’d get to do this summer, made some new friends, and got to know God better than ever before.

Now what? You’re back from camp and it’s time for your regular, old life to start again, right? Wrong! Not after everything you’ve learned this summer. Not after what God has been doing in your life. Your same old, stale, crusty life is gone, and you have a whole brand-spankin’, shiny new life with Jesus waiting for you.

What does this mean for you? Well, sit back and get ready, because we’re going to spend some time taking a look at exactly what your new life holds for you. Ready? Let’s get started . . .

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