If you scroll on Facebook for any length of time, one would quickly discover how our nation feels about your generation. 

It’s ugly. 

The tide pod memes that fill my newsfeed are funny, don’t get me wrong. However, when I think about the kids they are representing, I can’t help but wonder about their voice—your voice. 

Kids will be kids, right? 

Well, by the sounds of it, no one over the age of 30 has ever done anything stupid in their life. 

And maybe they haven’t. Perhaps, unlike myself,  they escaped their early adult years without mishap or misfortune. I’m imagining there are the ones that never did the “bad things” their peers were doing. That’s just great. Take into consideration the fact that we were yet to be exposed to social media, we may never know the truth. Yet, all of your business is out there for everyone to gawk and criticize and gasp. 

You should be proud of yourself. 

I guess I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. I was beside the Tide Pod consumer and dope dealer. Binge drinking was an after school activity and 4/20 wasn’t just a day on the calendar. It was the day, aka senior skip day. 

I think about you kids and I laugh. 

Yes, I hate you’re having to learn the hard way, as I did, but let me share a story about my generation. A tale that happened before selfies, viral posts, and YouTube. 

You have Tide Pods. We had “Snake Eyes”. 

I really can’t believe I’m going to publicly admit this, but I feel it needs to be talked about. You are not the only ones who have participated in a less than bright idea.  

There is no way of romanticizing this. So, I’ll just get it all out in the open. 

Snake Eyes was when (usually at a party) you took a lit cigarette and BURNED YOUR OWN FLESH in two places directly adjacent to one another. Thus producing, “Snake Eyes”.  Yes. For real. 

It was a dubbing of sorts. A fun, harmless ritual that high schoolers thought was cool. 

You may be wondering if I had Snake Eyes. I had one. One burn mark because I was too chicken for both. Plus, I chose a more inconspicuous area to place my branding. I was called a wuss and I was 100 percent OK with that. 

I thought the scar would be there the rest of my life, but it actually went away. 

Can we agree we both suffered from a disease called invincibility?

This is the thing: I wasn’t invincible and neither are you. 

I felt like I was because I was young, healthy, and excited. I grasped life full throttle and that is the way we liked it. And that’s OK. 

But. 

You will answer for this craziness. So please be careful. 

Death is real and none of us are immune. 

One day, you will want babies and have a family and these things are so much more important than those fun-and-games life distractions. 

I grew up in a small town. I get it. Not much else to do, huh?

Challenge your soul to imagine bigger and set goals. 

Replace your dreams with steps to get there. Do the hard work of saying “no” to those challenges prompted by the next cool thing. 

Prove something to yourself for once, instead of relying on others to account for your actions. Because you will be held accountable for yours. 

There is abundant life and you need to live. Living doesn’t mean gates wide open 24/7. 

Living can be a simple, yet profound act of walking the other way. Taking a different route. Seeking out that for which you were made. 

That’s living. 

You are not stupid. 

You just haven’t realized your strength. 

Your potential. 

Your gift. 

Your talent. 

Your opportunities. 

Your self-worth. 

Your beauty. 

One more thing . . . 

You are ruthlessly loved. 

The God of the universe sent His only son, Jesus, to take on your sin debt. Just. For. You. 

He loves you that much. 

You are deeply cared about and Christ made a way for you. 

Turn around and run the other way—right into His arms.

Are you ready to really live? 

The door is open and He is waiting.