Teen Speak

Turns out working part-time and job searching require too much time for me to be able to blog. That has GOT to change.

I thought I'd give you a little taste of my day-to-day with the teens by offering some quotes.

"Man, you're mad dumb!"
"I'm gonna smack the black off you!"
"I love grindin"
"I'll rash wit choo."
"You don't get it because we're young."
"That's my jam!"
"Yo, quit forcin' it!" (I hear this most often)
"My boo boo don't feel good."
"How do you spell mouth?"
"Ohhh yeah, we had looooads of fun this weekend!"
"All 'a them is talkin too!"
"Are you a good teacher?"
"Maaaan, I thought you was 21."

These are mostly the clean quotes. Typically they're cussing (like last week when one of them called me a mother f---) and working hard to make it about sex. If you call them on it they accuse you of being dirty always thinking they're talking about sex. Its a never ending circle of talk. The crazy thing is they laugh at one another ALLLLL day and the joke never changes - its always about their body or someone else's. Very clever, let me tell you.

So, here's a few definitions to some of the words in the above quotes..
Grindin' - to dance close with someone simulating a sexual act (this is a pretty old word)
Rash - to argue with someone, going back and forth with "witty" come backs (I use witty verrrry loosely here)
Forcin' - taking it too far, crossing the line or boundary
Boo Boo - significant other
Loads - pretty sure she was telling the other kids she had done a lot of drugs at this party as she kept repeating "loads" -when asked what I did that weekend I told them I went to a party, too, but did not have "loads" of fun which made them laugh bc they thought I didn't get what they were saying.

Well, some things never change. The most incredible thing about these teens is their ability to change the slang and follow one another in conversation. They will use the most innocent word (like 'boom' when they were talking about a woman's privates yesterday) and once I catch on and tell them to knock it off they just pick another word (although yesterday they weren't quite smart enough and picked the word 'zoom' - seriously?). Its a constant game of clue and reading their non-verbal ques to figure out what they're talking about. Most often, though, its sex.

Perfect for me, right? Well, kind of in that I know more about it than they do, but these kids aren't looking for a reason not to have it. In fact, today they told me they felt sorry for me that I was abstinent. Yeah, okay, I get that mentality, but when I started asking this one kid if he's ever had a girl get all crazy and possessive of him after having sex he got quiet. I said, "that's because of the sex. It sends a message, and lots of times that means big drama."

Yeah, so this work... its crazy hard, but also daily filled with moments when I connect with one kid and feel really good. Like today one of the girls brought in two lists she made after we talked a few times about books she's read. One list was of all the books she can think of that she has read and one list was the books she wants to read. People, these are not teen fiction - they are heavy books on topics I'm not sure I want to read. I love that she feel proud of reading them.

Last week another girl shared with me about her broken family and the struggles she has with her parents. I just looked her in the eye and said, "You are beautiful, smart, funny, kind and growing into an amazing woman. Someday these people in your life who you don't get along with will come around and see you for who you are and maybe those relationships will heal." She got teary eyed and then looked away and said, "Yeah, maybe. Its okay, I mean, I forgive them and it doesn't matter if they're not there for me - in two years I can take care of myself and be free of them." Oh how my heart broke for her! I told her that I'm about to turn 30 and my Mom died almost three years ago and I still need her ... that its okay to need your parents and to be bummed they're not who you want them to be.

God has been faithful and I'm thankful for the opportunity to get to know these teens and encourage the staff. Tomorrow night is our Christmas party with them and they're all getting gifts. I made brownies and cupcakes for them, too. This crazy fallen world gets me down, but I believe God when he promises to restore it. Now Christmas is near and the promise of a Savior being sent to reconcile us to God is fulfilled. I am SO GLAD He had a plan for this. for us.