Ouch

Last night was great when it came to our mentoring group and being with our teens. Unfortunately the finish was horrible as I encountered not once but twice cultural blow-ups. I am thrilled to be an open door to help anyone that needs the necessities and will go the extra mile if someone will show an openness to be responsible and follow through.

The real issue for me is watching adults who purport to have it together and use excuses as a way to cover their irresponsible choices or in this context being lazy and allowing their poor choices to impact youth. I have been around this one teen for the last five years where he has floated in and out of school. This is not his fault but the challenge of a guardian who is unemployed and continues to make unfortunate choices. After watching this teen move literally 10 times during this period it is no wonder that even he has given up when it comes to following through.

I knew that after enrolling this teen in school that his guardian would have a meltdown because I had gone around him because he had chosen to do nothing and school had been in session for already two months. I discovered that because he was already 16 he could enroll himself. So I took the time and trouble to help this teen to get his classes, a bus pass and discover that he already had at least 10-15 friends.

As I was driving my group of teens home I continued to get a call from the same number. I typically don’t like to talk on my cell when I am driving. So I decided to answer, which was a mistake, I could tell from the second I picked up that the individual was very upset and wanted to talk to the teen and then to me. I explained that this wasn’t a good time to talk and that I would talk later.

I didn’t expect as I dropped off this teen to be confronted by these two men on the street. I again explained that it was inappropriate to talk about this matter with the other teens around and that I had some other teens that had their own crisis that needed my attention and help. I wasn’t thrilled with what they were saying and said that this serves no purpose so I am leaving. So I left.

Wow – what had I done to deserve this type of treatment? I know that I received a text the next day from a mom who thanked me for allowing her twins to spend the night at our house with some other teens. Yet, I knew that these two men would have come close to using physical force to get their message across. My heart aches and breaks for this teen that deserves a chance to succeed in life. Yet, the actions of his guardian and friend make it really difficult for much to change.

I so tire of false spirituality that is used as a cover for sinful actions. It is one thing to mess up your own life but to include others in this type of mess is inexcusable. I do understand that there is always two sides to a story and that is why I would have loved to talk to these men in the proper context where constructive steps could be taken to help the teen get in school today. Yet, after calling the school where he enrolled it was obvious that the guardian wasn’t going to go back and get this teens info to take to another school. Unfortunately the teen is 16 and is required to stay in school. So is it possible to come up with an explanation for all of this behavior that makes sense to anyone looking from the outside in?

Yeah, I wanted to scream last night and I did a little. I can see how people can become very racist and bias against people that are totally different from them. May God keep my heart and mind clear so I see a person’s heart and intentions before their size, vocabulary or car they drive.