A Very Good Week With Challenges To Come!

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil 1:6 KJV)

Today, I am still in a pretty celebratory mood. My granddaughter, Ash, received her High School Diploma from Flagler Technical Institute yesterday. Sadly, there will probably not be any graduation party as so many other graduates have. Since, relocating to Florida, all of her friends and most of her family are in other states and too far away to come to celebrate with her. 

She passed her driving test with All Florida Safety Institute this week as well and is now a licensed driver. So, she has had a very good week. She has been also working since shortly after moving to Florida and saving for a car and hopefully some more education. There are still many challenges ahead for her, partly due to the fact that she is still a minor.

Being a young person in today's world is not easy. We have worked so hard to protect young people that in many ways we have made it difficult for them to grow up. They cannot see a doctor without a parent accompanying them and signing the appropriate insurance and other forms. Yet, in some states they can get an abortion without the parents even being informed. They are apparently wise enough to make a decision of that magnitude without the advice of an adult who loves them. Yet, they can't get their teeth cleaned without a parents' permission.

They can enlist in the armed forces at seventeen. Yet, in most states you have to be twenty-one to have a concealed carry permit. You also have to be twenty-one to drink alcoholic beverages even though you are more than old enough to die for your country.

I am not sure how anyone under the age of twenty-one would go about renting a place to live or how they would purchase a home. My husband and I purchased our first home when I was nineteen and no we didn't need a co-signer. Is that even possible today? 

I know that many of the laws that we have today are meant to protect children. But, some of these laws also restrict their ability to grow up; to really grow. Many of the laws keep young people reliant on their parents and the governing authorities for way too long.

But, for today, I am celebrating that Ash has met a couple more milestones in her life. She still has a lot of trials and challenges ahead of her. In reality, the trials never end no matter how long we get to live here on earth. Today, I celebrate that she has met many of the challenges set before her to date and she has overcome. 

Thanks be to God for blessing her! May He bless all of our young people as they strive to live abundant lives.

God's Peace - Pr. J.