Seasons of Change

On my way home from a course at GCC tonight, I was listening to Family Life Today with Dennis Rainey.  Rebecca Ingram Powell was a special guest on the show, discussing her book Seasons of Change:  Parenting Your Middle Schooler with Passion and Purpose.  

While the stories shared by the hosts of the show were WAY before my time ;-) Powell's Jr. High story reminds me of some of my Jr. High experiences.  When she was going into 6th grade, Rebecca's family moved to a new city, and we all know how hard that is!  In an effort to fit in with the popular girls, she asked for a certain pair of shoes for Christmas.  Of course, when school started back up again, all the popular girls had new shoes, too, and she was the girl with 'last year's shoes.'

When I was in Jr. High, the girls all had LA Gear shoes and the boys had BKs (British Knights).  I begged and begged for a pair of pink and grey hightop LA Gear shoes.  Those shoes made my feet look HUGE & I ended up absolutely hating them.  BUT those were the shoes I had, so I had to wear them!

Jr. High certainly was rough--it seemed as if everyone was looking at me--and my perception of myself was skewed by my insecurities.  Unfortunately, so many girls (boys, too?) are obsessed with their looks and find their value in external things that really don't matter.  I haven't read Season of Change, but it sounds like Powell gives great advice on helping your middle-school aged children find value in who they are in Christ that could help them navigate those difficult middle-school years.                       

(I don't have a photo of those shoes on my computer, but here I am with my friend Melody in 7th grade.   I couldn't see a thing without my glasses!!!)