“Kids these days” – you ever hear or read that phrase? It’s usually followed up with a complaint of something they saw or heard of a kid doing. 

Kids these days…

• Play their music too loud in the neighborhood
• Always have their faces stuck in their phones
• Walk around with one dumb AirPod in their ear all the time
• Can’t give a firm handshake 
• Don’t look people in the eye when they’re talking to them
• Are unable to hold a conversation with an adult
• Ride their bikes directly at cars coming down the road

Look, I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid,  the list of complaints I should/would have had logged against me were far longer…and if I’m being totally honest, much dumber and dangerous than what I listed above. 

Despite all that, the kids these days give me hope for our future.

Perhaps I am jaded by all the kids that I am blessed to interact with day in and day out, but here is how I see the kids these days…

• They take time to share with me what music they enjoy and why. They partly accomplish this by taking over the music at the gym and blasting Taylor Swift because they know it’ll make me laugh.
• Or we play a game where I try to guess the artist of what is on in their one silly AirPod. I’m holding out hope that ‘Three Dog Night’ is a winner one day…
• They look at their phone to see what exercise is next in their programming and stay on track during their sessions with me.
• They are in the gym, putting in work, on the last day of school…on a Friday afternoon. Let me tell you where I never was on any Friday afternoon while I was in school – the gym.
• Equally, they were at my gym the first day of summer vacation…and asked if they could come in more while out of school.
• Every day, we high five and shake hands, and have face to face conversations about what is working, what they like, and don’t like. They are honest, polite, and direct.
• They help out one another and embrace each new kid like one of the gang that’s been around a while. 
• When someone is absent, they ask about them.
• They share the personal challenges they are going through and ask me for advice. And, as usually happens, when my advice matches what their parents said, they humorously roll their eyes in understanding that we adults do know a few things and are looking out for their best interest. 
• And yes, they do stupid things on their bikes. But they also use them to get to the gym on days that they don’t feel like walking or running to get here.
  

And finally, who was front and center, hands held in adoration and honor, leading Church worship on the first Sunday of summer break? 

Yea, kids these days. 

We could spend time lamenting all the things that kids these days aren’t doing right, but I wager that they already hear enough of this from the world. 

Let’s highlight what makes these kids so very special. 

They each have a light within them, but we can help them radiate brighter by shining a positive one on them. After all, the next generation is our future. Let’s pour into them wisely.