“You know what keeps me up at night?” Jackie is on spring vacation and more chatty at home, more open, settled, and fun to be around. Even though she has a great social context at school, it puts her on edge often. Navigating social drama takes up so much of our kid’s energy. There is such diversity in the class and I honestly believe they have just started seeing each other for real. They also only start to truly see themselves too, as they discover and shake who they are. Being 11-12 is wild.
So she tells me: “when I’ll have a job and make my own money, they will go on utilities, and food, and home, and maybe a piece of clothing here and there, but will I make enough to live decently?”
When did she grow up all of a sudden?
I know entitled teenagers are obnoxious but worrying about the future is not the solution. I reminds her about a verse that I learned by heart when I was a teenager: “do not worry about what you will eat or what you will wear. Your Father who is in heaven will provide for you.” And I remind her that she only has to do her part. Find her groove. Study and be diligent. Not more. But not be lazy either. We sow not in the season we will reap. The work we put in now will bring forth its rewards in a much later season. And she will never be destitute while I’m alive. She will have a place to call home. Like I did when I felt completely exhausted by adult life. For a short season. I was pampered and served home cooked meals and my mind reset and refocused. And then I could start being an adult without looking back. And I could pay not forward.