{posted by my lovely wife}

Craig is gone this week to hunt with J.D. Huitt and Rick Thomas in Houston, Missouri. This is the first time that we have been apart, except for a sleepover at the Schatz’s with Briana, since we’ve been married. I cried when he left. Yes, I know that makes me seem like a three-year-old who has just been left with a babysitter, but I was genuinely sad that he was leaving me, even if just for a couple of days…he left Sunday and he’ll be home on Wednesday.

Anyway, three of my “little sisters” from church came to spend the night with me last night and J.D.’s wife, Hannah, came over, as well, and we had dinner together and just spent time catching up. When Craig left, I thought I would be the loneliest person alive and that I would spend my time crying over him and wishing that he would return. I have been surrounded with wonderful friends and family, however, so I haven’t felt the longing of company. Amazing for me, really. I think, however, he is missing home and is excited about returning to the normalcy of life here in good ole’ Sullivan.

Last night was a very interesting one for me, as the girls are having a hard time with allowing me to be their authority. For so long I’ve been their “big sister” and we have done so many things together and shared so much that I guess I’m more of their friend and confidant than in charge of them. This will be remedied with time and patience on my part and on theirs’ and I am not concerned about it all that much. What I am concerned about, however, is the huge burden that these young women deal with every day. One of the girls is in the seventh grade, in which girls she knows are involved in sexual promiscuity. It just boggles my mind to hear these things, breaks my heart to hear the two ninth graders talk about the many partners their friends have had and the parties that have occurred. My co-worker told me today that she is going to lock up her grandchildren. She is currently working with 5th and 6th graders on Sunday evenings to prepare them for the “war zone” they enter every day. When I was in middle school, the most important thing on my mind was which girl’s house the sleepover was at and which lip gloss was the one “in style”. Today, students are dealing with so much more and they are so young! It is up to us, as parents and friends and adults, to share the trials with these students, to reach out to them and be a place of refuge in this mixed-up, crazy world.

Please join with me in praying for our teenagers. They are dealing with so many struggles and burdens and I know that the load is often too much for them to bear. If you have a passion to work with teenagers, get plugged into a local church body and volunteer in the youth group. Be a shining light to these students, someone they can pour their heart out to without fear of retribution. Love them, with all you’ve got.

Kendall