There is one very good reason why the teen years of our beloved children cause us fear. We fear that he/she will make that one mistake which will completely redefine the future you have prayed for/dreamed of for your beloved. You know that one mistake which you fear the most. Because you’ve been fearing this since your beloved was a baby.

Now the teen years are here. That one mistake is a very real possibility. You are seeing your beloved become that “normal teen” which means you also get the Pseudo-stupidity, the Imaginary Audience, and the Personal Fable parts of adolescent development. (Definitions for these are at the end. But you already know what they are because you also lived through this stage.)

So when that crisis does hit (and it will in some form, maybe not future-altering but something is going to scare the beejeezus out of you) this is the mantra I want you to keep repeating to yourself over and over again:

“Jesus is bigger than any mistake.”

If Jesus can’t handle the anxiety your kid feels every day going to school, we need a new Jesus. Jesus is bigger than any mistake.

If Jesus can’t handle the depression you are watching your teen sink into, we need a new Jesus. Jesus is bigger than any mistake.

If Jesus can’t handle your kid’s partying, we need a new Jesus. Jesus is bigger than any mistake.

If Jesus can’t handle your kid’s rebellion, we need a new Jesus. Jesus is bigger than any mistake.

Jesus can also handle your mistakes as a parent. Jesus is bigger than any mistake.

Jesus can handle our smallest accidental mistakes as well as our greatest intentional sins.

Say it over and over and over. Pray it over and over and over. Amen.

P.S. My faith is not a simple one. I’m not one who can simply speak words and have that change my reactions to what life gives me. I wrestle my faith. I love this God of Maybe. So I don’t offer this help as something so simple. It’s not. But this truth does comfort me so.

Definitions:

Pseudo-stupidity is the adolescent’s tendency to overlook the obvious and inability to make appropriate choices. It results from the lack of experience with newly attained abilities to perceive many possibilities simultaneously.

Imaginary Audience is the belief of an adolescent that others are constantly focusing attention on him or her, scrutinizing behaviors, appearance, and the like. The adolescent feels as though he or she is continually the central topic of interest to a group of spectators (i.e., an audience) when in fact this is not the case (i.e., an imaginary audience).

Personal Fable is a belief held by many adolescents telling them that they are special and unique, so much so that none of life’s difficulties or problems will affect them regardless of their behavior.

(photo credit: PXhere.com)