by Judi Weiss

Summer’s a great time. Youth activities, friends, or just sleeping in until noon. Summer is wonderful. But then it ends, with a flurry of back-to-school shopping. And some teens are heading to different schools. Maybe starting high school. Maybe starting college.

Even if you’re taught at home, the school year can be brutal. If you don’t have Jesus, it can be even worse. Going through the motions of school is tough, especially when you add on all the other teenage year horrors: Acne problems, crushes, teachers, and the other slew of problems. (more…)

by Mary Ann Frazier

I was hanging out with some friends recently. It was just after we had seen a movie, and we stopped by a store on the way home. 

Old feelings rose up in me. Feelings of worthlessness, rejection, and ugliness. At first they succeeded in bringing me down, but why was I was looking at what the world thinks of me instead of remembering what God thinks of me?

So I asked God to help me. A moment later, I snuck a peek at a randomly chosen verse in a little Bible booklet I had.

 At least I thought it was random.

The first words I saw were, “Christ in you, the hope of glory”. It was exactly what I needed to hear!  (more…)

by Catey Yuen

I got back from a speech and leadership camp in Tennessee just a few short weeks ago. I was exhilarated – and at the same time, discouraged. Looking ahead to the humdrum ways of real, regular high school living sounded remarkably unappealing. After a time of really focusing on God, it didn’t seem fitting that I should shove myself back into the routine of my regular year.

I’ve probably already made it very clear that I’m not all that into change. I’ve had the same haircut for five years, keep a calendar to help me manage my routine, and don’t like to mix up my daily schedule much. So I came up with a brilliant solution to my dilemma: I’d simply replicate my summer and try to stay in the same mental state as during my break. (more…)

by Debra Weiss

From my shoulders to my fingers, there is not a muscle nor a nerve that does not ache. My arms have been trembling for the past three days for hours on end. Violently. Painfully. Both my wrists are now sprained from the constant trembling. I cannot hold a cup half full of liquid without spasms of pain shooting through both of my wrists.

After seeing me today, one doctor remarked that I am ‘a very strong young woman’. I thanked her but told her the truth. “Most people,” I explained, “when they encounter difficulties either fall backward in defeat or forward to their knees in prayer. I just choose prayer.”

I know this month at Real Teen Faith we’ve been talking about going back to real life after experiencing God in a new way during the summer. If you’re one of the ones going back to your ordinary life after experiencing God this summer, know that you will face difficulty.

There will come moments when those who have less than honorable intentions prosper. There will be moments when the tears and the pain come. There will be moments when you ask why and God doesn’t seem to answer.

In those moments, know you have two choices – you can fall back in defeat or you can fall to your knees in prayer. (more…)

By Derek Hanisch

When we’re in Sunday school we’re taught that to be a good Christian we need to read our Bible and Pray. We tend to hear it so often that we become numb to the meaning behind the words.

Here’s a question for you. When was the last time you picked up that dusty little book full of complicated words that’s sitting on the bottom of a pile on your desk? Maybe you can say that you read the Bible every day. If you do, well, good for you! But, if you were like me, then you might not want to admit the answer out loud. (more…)

by RTF Editor B.J. Hamrick

Summer camp has always been a favorite pastime of mine. Red hot dogs, cold showers, and blue food-coloring in my sister’s makeup (score!).

A while back I was asked to write an advertisement for a camp I attended as a kid. After I finished the ad the staff asked, “Do you think you could write something that would make kids WANT to come to camp?”

So I set out to do just that. I wrote about goats. And chickens. And bears. And plastic spiders under pillows. I wrote about toothpaste in the centers of Oreos.

The part the staff was really asking about, though, was would I… would I… would I (dare I say it?)… write about my CHANGED HEART? (more…)

by Lydia Rule

My cell phone cheerfully rings early in the morning. I grumble, complain, and whine at the very alarm that I had set the night before. I stumble around trying to find my shoes, grab a quick breakfast, head out the door, fight traffic, and arrive just in time for my work shift to begin. I’ve got it down to a routine… it takes exactly five minutes to pack a lunch, seven minutes to eat breakfast, ten minutes to get my hair looking the way it should, and nine minutes of rest should I decide to hit the all-tempting snooze button. (more…)