"Ironic" in the Eyes of A Teenager (Part 1)

This post was written for one of our readers who had trouble understanding the post titled "Ironic?", written by Princess Catherine.

It is dedicated to anyone else who needs it and its encouragement and wisdom. Parents, feel welcome to read this too! :)

"That skirt's too short, you look too grown up! Go take it off! You got a 'C' on your report card! You should have been studying instead of going to the movies with your friends! If you don't pull those grades up you're not going anywhere for a week! If you don't clean your room you're not getting the car this weekend!"

Have your parents ever said any of these things to you? How about these?

"I just don't feel comfortable with you being there by yourself. Someone has to go with you." or "You're too young to be doing that! If there is no chaperon, your can't go!"

Why? What do they talk to us like we're kids? They totally don't understand us! I mean, if they did they wouldn't treat us like this, right? We are old enough to be just a little independent! Can't they give us some space? They just want to keep us from becoming our own person, right? Wrong.

Once my friend and I were at an amusement park with her mom. It had started to rain, so we decided it was a good time to take a lunch break. Once we were finished eating, we realized it had stopped raining. We were so excited to get to our next ride, we started running ahead of her mom.
"Hey girls!" She called out. "Come back here!"
My friend and I, frustrated and anxious, walked over to her.
"What?" My friend asked and then added "The ride's this way."
Her mom smiled and said "There were two gangs right there and they looked like they were going to fight. You girls were about to walk right between them."
"But were didn't see them, how could we not see them?" I asked.
My friend's mom smiled again "I know you didn't see them. That's why I'm here."

I wonder how many other times parents can foresee things we teenagers can't. My friend's mom was not trying to hold us back from where we wanted to go, she was just making sure we got there safely. That's why God gave us parents.

They are not trying to keep us from becoming independent or becoming our own person (in fact, they want that too!), they just don't want us to get hurt unnecessarily or go down the wrong road in the process.

Of course for some of you knowing that might not help that much because sometimes regardless of our parents' motives it's hard to listen to them. But sometimes instead of checking our parents' motives, we need to check our own. We should want to obey and please our parents because that's what God asks. God said in Ephesians 6:1, and Colossians 3:20 to obey your parents. Exodus 20:12 says "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you." (bold added)

Now some of you might be saying/thinking "I thought this was supposed to be though the eyes of the teenagers!" Well it is. I am a teenager, and like most teenagers I don't always see eye to eye or agree with my parents, but time after time I find that my parents only want the best for me.

Most everyone wants to be independent, right? Well you can be. I have figured out the strategy that most parents use with us teenagers.