teenagers.....

Meg's facing her first mid-terms as a high school student today. Algebra I and physical science. I don't envy her at all. I honestly don't remember having mid-terms in high school. Since I never did drugs, it's not that I "forgot" about ever having them; I just don't think they were required at my high school. Tests, although necessary, were never my strong suit back then. And I froze whenever I had to take them, therefore I hated them. And my parents suffered through the tests with me, mainly when the results were posted. That was always alot of fun.....

Teenagers can cause you headaches at times. The bride and I were watching one of our favorite shows, "Still Standing", last night. Bill and Judy were concerned that their 15-year-old daughter and her boyfriend were getting a little too familiar with each other. They called the other parents over to discuss the situation because they found a hickey on their daughter's neck. Turns out she and a friend gave them to each other with a vacuum cleaner so that kids at school would quit making fun of them. Yes, peer pressure can make you do weird things with household appliances.

As much as we parents think that our teenagers can be a challenge to us, can you imagine how Mary's parents felt over 2,000 years ago? I don't know this for sure, but they probably had a meeting with Joseph's parents to discuss the situation. Even after they were "clued-in" to what was about to take place, I can imagine that they still had doubts about everything. Plus, how would they handle all the gossip from their neighbors? Back then, Joseph had every right to turn his back and walk away from the whole ordeal, but he didn't. Sure, he had an angel fill him in on everything, but he still could have run off. He didn't. And what about Mary? She'd never done anything to have anyone question her morals, and now this happens.

Like so many things that happen to us in our own lives, God had a plan. I've known people who lost their job, only to have an even better one come along. Sometimes the most incredible things occur from bizarre circumstances. If you need help remembering this, just go back a couple of thousand years. But it didn't stop there. From His unusual birth all the way to His unjust death, God had a plan for His son. That plan? To get to know you, and for you to get to know Him.....