If your student has a cell phone, do you ever feel like they are more locked-in and focused on their phone than on reality? A lot of the time we know that’s true. You’ve probably seen numerous things on social media of people missing incredible moments happening right in front of them, but they are missing the moments completely because they are on their phones. It’s an odd thing, but we have a connection with our devices. Yes, we said “we.” Let’s be honest, it’s not just our students is it? No it is not. It’s all of us. Although we are able to connect with friends and family with simplicity and ease, the truth is, our devices can sometimes provide a false sense of connection with people that we may or may not even know. This “electronic connection” fills some sort of void in us that longs to feel connected to others. Guess what- – that is by design. God built us knowing that we needed connection. It’s all throughout scripture.
Genesis 2:18- “The Lord God said- It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10- “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”
Parent, are you connected with other people or parents? We are not meant to do this life alone. We realize you may be strong and you may have this whole parenting thing down, but no one is strong enough to make it to the end by themselves. We need each other. You need some people around you that can encourage and challenge you, and believe it or not, there are some people around you that need that from you as well. If you would like to get connected with some other parents of junior high students, we would love for you to just shoot an e-mail to students@wc.org. Just put that you want to join a junior high parents group and we will reach out to you to get you connected with other parents.
We talked yesterday about how you were doing. We hope that you took a minute to share your heart with the Lord and get that connection strong with Him. Is there anyone that really knows where you are and what you are really going through? We want to make sure that you have someone who can walk with you through this crazy life of parenting junior high aliens. If there’s anyone who gets the stress, chaos, and shear insanity of parenting junior high students, it’s you! You need others to rally around you, and you need to be sure you’re doing your part to rally around others. Let’s drop the act that we have it all together and simply be brave and choose connection. You’re probably on your phone right now, so when you’re done with this devotional, send the e-mail about getting connected. Find that person on your phone who you know would be heartbroken to know that you’re hurting and you never reached out to them, and shoot them a text about grabbing coffee or lunch. It’s time to be vulnerable to seek connection with others. It may seem weird or awkward at first, but some of the greatest things in life lie just on the other side of awkward. We’re in your corner cheering you on!
-The Student Ministry Staff Team
Use this link to see some photos from Freedom Week so far: View Photos
