As I was praying the other day, I saw these words: "Honor your past." Wait, what? It wasn't something I had ever thought about before. Usually, when I thought of the past, there was pain: regrets and mistakes that I wish I could go back and change. Back to the future. Remember that movie? How many times have I wished we could really do that? More times than I can count, I will tell you that much. If you are like me, you've gone over the past countless times, maybe

I think I love you. No, I don’t even like you. Wait...I think I hate you. Well, I loved you, yesterday. Now, I am not sure. Last week, I barely liked you. Tomorrow, who knows. You get the idea. Do your feelings make you feel a little crazy, sometimes? Do your feelings make you question yourself, who you are and what you are doing? Haven’t we all? And we are not even talking about the object of your affection. That can happen over the outfit you are trying to decide

The chaos will subside. It always does. The negative feelings will change into positive ones. Your emotions will calm. You are powerful when you choose to be.

Children and teenagers, at times, seem to be very different than us. Is your child or teenager from another world? Maybe an alien? (I have nothing against aliens, in case you were wondering). Maybe or maybe not, but they respond differently and think differently than we do in certain situations. To help children learn, grow, and heal, making a connection with them is of upmost importance. How do we do that if we don't understand them at times?

Our young people are looking outside themselves for direction and validation, the last place they should be looking. They are dressing to fit in, doing the same things as the other kids, looking at their friends, classmates, celebrities, and social media influencers to find out who they are and who they think they want to be.