Teenagers and Boundaries

The good thing about having a teenager (almost to twenty) when you are the wrong side of fifty is that there is fifty years of experience to draw on. You just have to be selective. When discussing boundaries for example I can tell her that my parents’ only rule was “Call us to let us know where you are and when you’ll be home.” Oddly enough the daughter thinks that one’s a good rule even though I tell her that love means curfews and boundaries.

I can tell her that the lack of boundaries means I could have gotten into some serious trouble. It was God’s hand that kept me from making even more rebellious mistakes (sins) thsn I did. I used the story of a friend of mine that thought he’d gotten a girl pregnant. He’d spent about a month acting abnormally due to his fear. I too was breaking boundaries that shouldn’t have been broken but even then God shielded me. As the Psalm says, “The boundaries have fallen for me in pleasant places.”

I haven’t had to broach the tougher parts of my bio yet. I am hoping I don’t have to wade into waters that reflect on my years of serving self and manipulating circumstances. Looking back it is startling that so many stories end with, “But God being rich in mercy….” The car that didn’t roll, the lawsuits that didn’t happen when I’d slapped a kid or broke a kid’s leg (he flew off the top of my car!), the physical boundaries and through it all a rich expanse of friendship some strands which are still in place today. Much experience to draw on, “The boundaries have fallen for me in pleasant places, surely I have a delightful inheritance.”