...Tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. Psalm 78:4

I stood in the corner of the room with my arms folded across my chest planning my next move. I felt I had little in common with these strangers in front of me, besides the footwear many of us sported, our Converse tennis shoes.

Do I walk up to someone and introduce myself, or do I pull up and share the YouTube video I watched earlier today where Jimmy Fallon plays Donald Trump getting a lesson on "losing with dignity" from the grown up cast of Full House?  I'm sure they could relate to Full House and everybody knows Donald Trump.

I choose a couch instead and begin to listen to conversations around me, waiting for the right moment to enter in. When did engaging become so unnatural?

I got to hang out with our church youth group last night. Out of a room full of them I only knew a handful, one being my daughter who was gracious enough to let me follow her around for the first thirty minutes. When did I become so irrelevant? More important, what could I pull from my bag of tricks used in previous interactions with teens with whom I have a good rapport?

Is loving on our youth population simply a menu item on "ways to serve", or all we all equipped for, and called to this ministry in some capacity?

How can we serve amongst the foreigners we call teenagers, our youth ?

We can be present and get involved. 

We can push a broom when more popcorn hits the floor than their mouths. We can work the Icee machine once a month. We can be chaperones for youth events. Shoot hoops with them or play a game of pool. We can make cookies or a snack.

We can suffer the awkwardness that sometimes comes from spending time talking to kids we don't know well. 

The perfect example came just last week when Hallie invited her friend to come along with her to her one and a half hour hair appointment. (She has a good friend). While Hallie was "getting pretty"  I proceeded to ask  Lilly (the friend) a slew of meaningless questions, mixing pieces of myself into the conversation.

If you could choose the style and color of one of the hairstylists in this salon for your own hair, which would it be?

Where's your family's favorite place to eat? (Me? I'm not a fan of buffet places.)

How are you feeling about Driver's Ed coming up? 

My hopes are that she enjoyed our conversation, but AT THE VERY LEAST, I hope our engagement has advanced from akward to annoying.  For some teens our attempt at conversation may make us sound like just another unrelatable adult. Still, kids could use another adult willing to make an investment in their life. Approach and be approachable even if you think your attempts are uninteresting.

Talking about necessary sensitive subject matters is another form of akward we can submit ourselves to. Some of these kids have some heavy stuff going on in their lives. They all face temptation regarding things that are difficult to talk about. Be willing to leave your comfort zone.

We can show genuine concern.

Maybe there are teens you worked with a few years ago in VBS when they were younger and friendlier. They were free in their sharing of hugs and questions. They may not be as free with their hugs and conversation these days, check on them anyway.

This also goes for that existing relationship you have with those teens with whose parents you go to Sunday school or sit by in church. Ask them how they're doing.

Show interest in the kids like the ones I encountered last night that I've never seen before. I don't know anything about them or their parents. Some were loud and, upon first impression, seemed like they were there for reasons other than making much of Jesus.

Though that should be our main reason for gathering together, I STILL frequently fail at accomplishing that goal within and outside the church walls. I can assuredly say I stunk at it on a regular basis when I was a teen.

If there's one period of life I'd be least willing to relive, it would be my teenage years. I didn't quite accept myself as I was, and was  sure that even my most faithful friends would drop me like a hot cake if they discovered my life was an act aimed to please the multitude of peers.

Teenage-hood can be a fragile time even for those who act like they think they're ten feet tall and bulletproof.

Many of them feel invisible at any given moment and then like a contemptible spectacle a moment later (even the ones with "good home lives").

We can love these kids just as they are. 

We can pray for the change God wants to bring in lives; those we've known from the cradle, those who think they've got this Christianity thing down, and those  who wear those big ear gauges that both me and grandma agree are just tacky.

We can treat them as church family. That's who they are. They're in our midst.  Let's be ready to care for them just the way someone cared for us when we were once foreigners.

Ask your youth leader for ways you can be involved with your youth.

Please share, inviting others to answer the call to care for these important members and potential members of our family of God. We can all play a part.