" talkin' bout my generation..."

Truth is - I have a really screwed up generation.

(so please excuse me for a few minutes as I step up onto my pedestal)

Have you ever thought about our generation? I mean, really thought about the values, beliefs and ideals for our generation.

Skewed would be the perfect adjective to describe it. We're idealist. We hope and believe in a perfect future. We want what we want, and there's nothing you can do about it. We want money, we want luxury, we want excitement, and we want to be happy 24/7. A sad majority of us are greedy and immoral; we've lost sight of our true purpose.

It's really sad to me, to look back at pictures from when I was younger; to see the smiling faces of all my friends peering up at me and to think about where they are now.

They aren't all going downhill, I have a really great group of friends, but a surprising number are. They range from Alcoholics & "druggies" to sex obsessed people with no standards.

What happened to, I don't know, waiting to have sex until marriage? Having a good time when you're not high, drunk or tipsy? I know this might sound like a HUGE STRETCH to some people... but YOU CAN HAVE FUN WITHOUT THAT STUFF. Shocking, I know.

It's really kind of pathetic and actually quite sad.

It makes me miss the good old days. The days when we were all friends no matter if we drank or not. When we could hang out and not think about things like that. I miss being able to walk up to someone on the playground and start a friendship up on the spot. I miss the naive belief that everyone had values.

I don't want you to think I'm being hypocritical, I tried drinking my first semester. (not drugs, trust me) But honestly, I didn't really like it. I liked how it made me fit in, how it made me feel "cooler". But on the other hand, it made me feel unstable, immature and really distant from God. (as cheesy as that sounds)

It really saddens me to see my friends going down the wrong path. With some of them, the connection just isn't there any more. Especially with my Christian friends, the ones who went on Church trips with me in middle and high school and can probably still sing the lyrics of Big House and Pharaoh Pharaoh by heart . But we just don't have the common thread of Jesus in our lives anymore. Sometimes I just feel like grabbing them by the shoulders, shaking them and saying "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?"

Today my mom said something along the lines of "their parents may not know, their friends may not know but GOD knows...." And you know what, she's right. They can run from the mirrors that our their true, Christian friends, but they can't run from God.

I am by no means a prude. I'm not perfect, anti-fun, a bible-thumping christian, judgmental, or trying to change who you are. Do what you want to do, I don't care. But if you feel like it, maybe you could just look back at yourself and try to find the old you. Scrape away that plastic facade you've been using for the past few years. Try to find the you whose purpose in life matches God's purpose for you.

" talkin' bout my generation..."