One warning: it started as a book, so...it's loooong. With that in mind, we'll be posting pieces of it over the next several weeks.
We Love You. ~Brother & Sister McLay
It is your first day of a new school year. Ahhhh. The excitement buzzes up your backbone, and prickles the roots of your hair. There are new friends to meet, old friends to catch up with, a summer full of memories to gently tuck away, and a year full of memories just waiting to be made. You tuck a crisp, sheet—filled with neat rows listing your first quarter classes—into a clean binder, zip up your nifty, new backpack, and stop in front of the mirror to check out your brand-new-first-day-of-school outfit once more. The new pair of {heavy} jeans you begged your mother for hang perfectly on your hips, and gently brush the tops of the got-to-have shoes that you saved weeks of hard-earned cash to buy. A jaunty sweater completes the ensemble. You look hip. You look hot. You are ready to face the new year of high school. Ready to walk to school in style. Ready to walk into school with style. A deep breath, a slight nod of your head, and you open the door to the outside world.
It is 93 degrees, the middle of August. When you arrive at school, sweaty hair is matted to the sides of your head. You’ve rolled those perfect-fit jeans up to your knees to let some fresh air onto your steaming hot legs. The sweater has been desperately thrown into your backpack, leaving only the old camp T-shirt you’d thrown on underneath. You arrive at school, looking and feeling—well—much cooler than when you left the house.
How easy it is—with the excitement of a grand, new adventure on the way—to look past the season which surrounds you now. Perhaps you have done this very thing on the first day of school. School often begins at the tail-end of summer. But, you have a wardrobe full of new, winter clothes. And, it’s hard to wait until winter to show off your tremendous fashion sense. So, you dive into the pile of new clothes, and suffer uncomfortably through the day in an outfit meant for a season that hasn’t yet arrived.
In the Old Testament, a scripture speaks of seasons. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” Certainly, we see the seasons change around us. They stay for a time, and then silently slip away, letting a new season come for a visit. Spring brings tiny green buds of life, baseball tryouts, and umbrellas. Though, it never is long before the heavy, hot days of summer take over with family reunions, lazy trips to the lake, and giant, cool slices of watermelon. Autumn wisps in with wildfire leaves, jack-o-lantern’s, and nippy nights that are soon covered by winter’s quiet. Soft pillows of snow, fast rides down the ski slopes, and hot cocoa by a hot fire create warm memories while the world waits for spring. Oh, yes—and, finally—black corduroy pants with red turtle-neck sweaters come out from their waiting place…ready to serve in their own season of style.
These four seasons are not the only seasons we experience. The scripture in Ecclesiastes continues by describing some of the other seasons that come during our lifetimes: “A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted…A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” (Ecclesiastes 3:2,4) There is a season to be a child, a student, a teacher, a missionary, a parent, a grandparent. But, right now, it is YOUR season. Your season to be a youth.
Hah?! You say? Time to be a youth? Well, that is absolutely right. It is your season to be a youth. And, have you ever considered that—just as there are times for every season, there are tasks for every season too?
As a young man, or young woman, you are probably well aware of all the things that you should NOT be doing--or the things that you can’t do: You shouldn’t date until you’re sixteen. You can’t drive until you’re sixteen. Once sixteen, there are no one-on-one dates, curfews end at midnight (or sooner), and don’t even think about having your very own super-fast, super-sleek car to drive down the boulevard. Yes, you know well all of the things that you can’t do. But do you realize all of the things that you should be doing at this time of your life? All of the things that you need to do in this season, to prepare for the seasons to come?
President Gordon B. Hinckley once wrote, “Youth is the season to set directions for life.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, “Youth is the Season,” New Era, Sept. 1988, 44). This season of youth is not a time of no-no’s. It is not a season of waiting. It is a season of setting directions for your life. Do you realize that? All the choices that you make now, all of the things that you decide to do, are actually creating you. Right now, in this time of youth—you may be turning down invitations to a formal dance because you are only fifteen, but you are also tuning yourself to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. You may be leaving the fun at 11:45 p.m. but you are also letting God guide your decisions—and your footsteps—to a holier (and happier) path, a path that He has laid our just for you. You may be holding out on hand holding, but you are also upholding the standards which a loving Heavenly Father has put in place for your temporal and spiritual safety.
In all of this waiting--and as you are creating YOU--during this season of your life, one of the greatest temptations is to do things too early. It may be August, but there are some great new clothes just waiting in the closet. Rather than wait for a brisk autumn day, you want to wear your winter wardrobe now. Being a youth is no different. Only, rather than peering into a closet full of out-of-season clothing, you are peeking into your future. There are so many things to come: single dates with someone who sees you for the sensational person you are, a bent knee, a romantic proposal, a white wedding, a friend to whom you will be wedded forever.
With so much awaiting you, it is easy to want to skip ahead to the next season—to live in August, while wearing winter clothing. But, skipping ahead also means skipping out. President Spencer W. Kimball explains is this way:
“Dating, and especially steady dating in the early teens in most hazardous. It distorts the whole picture of life. It deprives you of worthwhile and rich experiences; it limits friendships; it reduces the acquaintances which can be so valuable in selecting a partner for time and eternity. There is definitely a time for the dance, for travel, for associations, for the date, and even for the steady date that will culminate in the romance which will take young people to the temple for eternal marriage. But, it is the timing that is so vital. It is wrong to do even the right things at the wrong time in the wrong place under the wrong circumstances” (Kimball, New Era, Nov. 1980).
Think of this season as High School for the rest of your life. There are classes you need to take, textbooks to read, lessons you can learn which will prepare you for college, having a job, and becoming more independent. Do you realize when you hold the For the Strength of Youth Pamphlet, that you are actually holding a “class” schedule? The principles outlined in the pamphlet are not meant to be a long list of hard tasks outlined in red no-no ink. They are actually “freshman” courses, designed to give you the tools you will need to graduate from life—with honors. Your course classes for youth include: Relationships with others, Personal integrity, Mental and Physical Health, and Media and Entertainment. In the For the Strength Youth Pamphlet, the first presidency puts it this way:
He wants all his children to return to live with him one day. However, he knows that only those who are worthy will be able to live with him. Standards help you know how well you are preparing to live with your Father in Heaven. Your entire lives on earth are intended to give you the opportunity to learn to choose good over evil, service over selfishness, kindness and thoughtfulness over self-indulgence and personal gratification. By comparing your behavior and thoughts with your Father's standards, you are in a better position to govern yourselves and make the right choices. God's commandments (standards) are constant, unwavering, and dependable. As you adhere to them, you will receive countless blessings from heaven—including the gift of eternal life.
The gift of eternal life—life with Heavenly Father, and our Savior, Jesus Christ. That is a pretty worthwhile graduation gift, don’t you think?
There are other course requirements that will help you enjoy this season of youth: The Holy Scriptures, regular Church attendance, actively participating in activities designed just-for-youth, are just a few of the school supplies available to help you learn all that you need to learn right now.
Despite these many resources available, being a young man or young woman can be difficult. Hey, being a person can be difficult! Add onto the regular trials of life all the trouble of teenagers, and it’s a wonder anyone makes it through alive. Waking up in the morning, going to school, and returning home in one piece is no easy task when you daily deal with pimples the size of raspberries, parents, three hundred and twenty-two pounds of homework, eighteen hours of after school activities, and a serious crush on the cutie in your geometry class. On top of these daily challenges, there are often other heavy burdens to carry: broken families, a sick loved one, a lost friendship, a hurting heart. It is easy to look ahead and feel like growing up is a good alternative to dealing with the pressures of daily life.
But remember! This time of your life is not simply a period of waiting. You are not just waiting for the zits to disappear, or for your homework to vanish on a cloud of dust, the day of your eighteenth birthday won’t magically change your life into a perfect, lilac-cover field of joy. “Youth is the season to set directions for life.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, “Youth is the Season,” New Era, Sept. 1988, 44). No, this is not a time of waiting, but rather it is a time of creating, of working, of deciding who you will be, where you will walk, and what you will become.
