Best Friends?

By Mallory

For a very, very long time, I was really worried that I didn’t have a best friend. I looked for friends from elementary school until college. I looked in my neighborhood, several churches, and school for a true friend. Don’t we all want friends who are going to stick with us all the time? How about a trustworthy, loyal friend? Someone you have something in common with and can have fun with? Friends that love you no matter what?

It’s HARD to find friends like this. I remember hearing a woman I respect share about this a long time ago on a youth group trip. That was when it hit me that this is something we struggle with all through our lives. This parent volunteer expressed feelings of loneliness and told us that she eventually realized Jesus is her one true friend.

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A Whole New Life

By Jason, M.Ed., M.A.R., Headmaster

So, you’re back from camp. What a week! You had tons of fun, did things you probably never thought you’d get to do this summer, made some new friends, and got to know God better than ever before.

Now what? You’re back from camp and it’s time for your regular, old life to start again, right? Wrong! Not after everything you’ve learned this summer. Not after what God has been doing in your life. Your same old, stale, crusty life is gone, and you have a whole brand-spankin’, shiny new life with Jesus waiting for you.

What does this mean for you? Well, sit back and get ready, because we’re going to spend some time taking a look at exactly what your new life holds for you. Ready? Let’s get started . . .

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Giving Out TMI

By MAD21

I stumbled across a great article on the website BeingGirl written by Anastasia Goodstein, called "Identity Theft: Another Reason You Shouldn't Share TMI Online." For those reading this, TMI is TOO MUCH INFORMATION. But then, if you didn't know that, maybe you shouldn't be reading this because you don't text, Facebook, MySpace, etc. anyway  :o)

I know, I know. You've heard it all before. You hear it from your parents, your friend's parents, your teachers, and probably every other adult in your life."Don't give out too much information about yourself in the digital world, be it texting, or any of the social online networks..." But you know? You really need to listen. Because I don't think most of you do.

There are tons of people and places telling you all kinds of information about why you should not post too much information about you or your friends. Everyone is telling all the reasons not to share, even if you think only your friends are seeing it (and putting all your settings to 'private' doesn't always work). But having many teens in our family, I can say with certainty, I still don't think most of you are listening. Just go to YouTube. Go and see how many videos of teens dancing around and talking you can find in five minutes. It would shock you. If you were a predator, how long would it take you to find out enough information about one of them to figure out how to find them in person.

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