What age do you think you are when you lose that certain innocence you had as a child? Is it when you graduate from high school? I am guessing it is later because in high school there are a lot of lessons learned even though we are at an age when we rebel and start to either blossom or get caught up in a wrong direction of some kind.

So I am guessing that the trek into being part of the elite group of people known as the high school student is when the age of innocence become lost to the rigors and frustrations of learning way too much way too fast.

But what is high school? Is it just a four year experience, or is it a stepping stone or boulder as the case may be into an adulthood that often looks back to that time, wishing you could take a time machine back there and hit yourself upside the head with a frying pan and say, "Wake up fool, there are a lot of opportunities for you, why are you blowing it?"

The say hindsight is 20/20. Is it? Or would you make the same mistakes or similar ones all over again if you were able to back to that time? You cannot go back. You cannot rewrite history. It is there in indelible ink. It cannot be erased anymore than the oceans of the world could dry up.

Sometimes I look in my high school yearbooks and it makes me think, "If I had only done this thing, or actually talked to that girl, or pursued academic excellence, then maybe my life would have turned out better." But the more you think about something like that the more depressed you get and the more you feel like your life did not go as planned.

But what if you had done things differently? You would have had a whole set of new plans that might make your life worse than it is now. You might have been killed in auto accident, or drowned or burned in a fire or something else equally as dreadful.

Psalms 33:8-11 Let everyone in all the world-men, women and children-fear the Lord and stand in awe of him. 9 For when he but spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command! 10 And with a breath he can scatter the plans of all the nations who oppose him, 11 but his own plan stands forever. His intentions are the same for every generation. TLB

Now you could sit there with depressed thoughts of high school or maybe your life was great in high school and life just got better from there. Consider yourself very blessed in that case, and don't forget to thank God for those many blessings. If you have depressed thoughts. Sit down, pray and listen for Gods answers to prayer.

Life has a habit of kicking us in our rear end at times, and sometimes when we least expect it. We can either pull ourselves up by our boot straps or we can just wade in the lake of self-pity and denial and lose the light that God gives us every day.

In high school it was easy to get caught up and not see the lighthouse of Gods love. It is like we are in a deep fog and can not find our way. But instead of letting it get the best of us we can instead seek Gods guidance and His love. And then our boat will dock in the right places.

That is not to say that a life fellowshipping in Gods love will be easy. It is both a challenge and an exercise in faith. It is something that takes some practice. It also means taking the time out for God.

Psalms 40:5 O Lord my God , many and many a time you have done great miracles for us, and we are ever in your thoughts. Who else can do such glorious things? No one else can be compared with you. There isn't time to tell of all your wonderful deeds. TLB

So when you are feeling down and you want to curl up with a good Book, then try the Bible. Pray and listen to what God has to say. And take some time out of your busy schedule to fellowship with God. You will be glad you did.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for giving my life meaning. Please Lord, help me to find that meaning in the midst of a hurried world. Help me to understand what I am supposed to do and give me the insight to know what you want for me in my life. I thank you for all your many blessings. Amen.

Benediction: Now, Lord, Bless us in our daily lives. Help us to smell the roses whenever possible, to shine our light on those less fortunate than us, and lead us in the path we should go. For you are the light that keeps our path well lit. Help us to follow it, until we meet you, in a land where milk and honey abound, a place where our most wonderful dreams are fulfilled. Amen.

Hi, my name is Bryan, a messenger of hope who would love to hear from you. God Bless.

© 2005 Bryan Hill