Day 31

 

A Friendship Bracelet

 

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."

 

Proverbs 17:17

 

 

Eleanor was going to have a hard time after she graduated high school. I could see it coming. Because of her family situation she was going to be pretty much on her own. As long as she  was in high school, being involved in the youth group was enough to keep her out of harm's way but years of youth ministry told me she was not grounded enough in faith and had too much emotional baggage to stand on her own.

Experience had taught me that the usual causes for celebration for teenagers were also the opportunities  for disastrous defeats. When a kid gets their driver's license it is a cause to celebrate and a time to watch out for reckless behavior. A teenager getting their first job, starting dating, graduating high school or going off to college are all special occasions but they are accompanied by enormous pits they can fall into.  It's a question of maturity. Are they mature enough to handle their new freedom and do they realize that with freedom comes responsibility?

We live in a society that gives teenagers too much information, too much freedom and responsibility without guidance. Kids in elementary school know more about sex than I did when I graduated high school. That doesn't mean they are mature. There is a difference between social maturity and emotional maturity.

You can be socially mature and not treat the people you date with respect. That takes emotional maturity. You can be socially mature and be a menace to society when you drive. You can be socially mature and be a worthless employee. If you lack real maturity you use people, you put people at risk, you expect too much for so little and think life is a party.

Eleanor was socially mature. On the surface she appeared to be all grown up. The truth was she was not ready for the freedom of being on her own. She got a job and fell into a lifestyle in which there were fleeting moments of joy in a sea of crushing guilt and emotional despair.

I had moved and was serving at another church and lost track of her. A couple of years went by and one day she called me. I encouraged her to get back in church and to get right with God.

She told me, "I've been kind of disappointed with God lately."

I told her, "I think God has been kind of disappointed in you too."

I haven't heard much from her as the years have gone by. I still think about her sometimes because kids in my youth groups will always be my kids even though I may not know where they are. Years ago Eleanor made me one of those friendship bracelets made out of embroidery thread. From time to time I wear it to remind me to pray for her.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read 1 Samuel 20:1-42

• What did David ask Jonathon to do?
• What did Jonathon ask David to promise to do?
• When would David and Jonathon's friendship come to an end?