Comments on: Kidults (Part 5): I Won’t Grow Up & You Can’t Make Me!

By: Morgan

Morgan — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:10:36 +0000

1) I think that most teens want to stay young forever to avoid responsibility

2) This used to be actually a big part of me and my friend’s conversation. Even though he’s homeschooled and I’m public schooled, a few years ago we both wanted to stay young forever. Fast forward to now and we’re itching to grow up. We talked about the pros and cons and found out (through your book, the Bible and a few other books and us just talking) having responsibility is actually more “fun” that Xbox or Wii or any other “fun” stuff we used to do to waste time. Plus, you have this good feeling after you do something hard and especially if you did it for God.

3) I think I have usually told people about the disease and the pills well, but they still seem to think I’m a crazy doctor sometimes. Maybe they think they’ll get lucky and their vaccination will be enough. But it isn’t.

I have to say I like this analogy a lot. Thanks for writing this, and of course the book Do Hard Things, it really changed my view of responsibility. keep it up

By: Georgia

Georgia — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:17:07 +0000

I really don’t want to grow up. I’ve been homeschooled for several years and I’m in Grade 11 this year. I live in the country in the middle of nowhere. I have very little people contact and I’m literally terrified of people. I tense up when I need to speak to someone, I can’t answer the phone and I’m really just petrified of people. I don’t want to grow up and work. I don’t want to manage my own life, I want my parents to do that. I don’t want to ask for things for fear of rejection. Quite frankly, I’m scared.
Up until 6 months ago, I’d never heard of Michael Jackson. Then, I saw a clip of his and I was hooked. Next came the cds, then the videos and then the snooping about his life on the internet. Michael Jackson is the perfect example of what it’s like to stay a kid forever. He has sleepovers, only married to have children then promptly filed a divorce and he’s living the childhood that he never had. Sadly, I’ve listened to his life story and decided that staying young forever is possible and what I wanted to do. I’m scared and I don’t want to live out in the real world. I’ll probably end up on a mountaintop in the Alps or something! I’m scared. I don’t want to leave the comfort of childhood. I want to stay young forever. Please, please pray for me. Pray that God will lead me out of this sticky trap of fear. Please.

By: Adrian Peterson Game Worn Jersey Owner

Adrian Peterson Game Worn Jersey Owner — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:14:49 +0000

As an Australia-based Vikings fan, I found your blog on google and read a few of your other Vikings posts.
I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.

By: Cassie

Cassie — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:31:38 +0000

One interesting observation I’ve made is that a lot of teens that I come into contact with want to grow up. But there’s a catch - they don’t want the responsibility that comes with it. They want a car, but they don’t want to pay (or at least help pay) for it. They want a boyfriend/girlfriend, but they’re not ready to get married, or even consider it. They want to be treated like an adult, but they hold on to their “kidness” so it is easy to treat them as such. They beg for iPods, gameboys, etc., but they can’t manage to finish their homework on time.

How would you help them to see that growth requires responsibility?

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:10:48 +0000

So yeah, I’m sorry, this was the wrong board… disreguard the above post. Sorry!!

By: Jessica

Jessica — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:04:25 +0000

Hey guys! I want to start off saying that I agree with Melissa on saying that you guys are definately awesome and encouraging. And I have to say that some of this material about growing up is hard to swallow. I’m an 18-year-old, freshly graduated homeschooler and the whole fact that my life is standing in front of me is daunting. I was wondering what you guys thought about people like me that really have no clue what they want to do, no specific talents, and yet desire the grow up and do great and big things for God? It seems like I’ve been missing a magic ingredient or somthing. If I don’t know God’s will by now, am I a Kidult in the making?

Jessica

By: Melissa Peterson

Melissa Peterson — Sat, 10 May 2008 02:33:05 +0000

Hey guys,
to start off with i just want to say what an awesome job you guys are doing and how much it has helped and encouraged me in my life, Thanks!
Secondly, I want to say that i agree with everything you guys are saying. I am 18 and home schooled and i have to confess that I don’t really want to grow up, not because I just want to hang out and have fun, but because i am scared to death of being on my own. I know i can’t escape growing up, but believe me, if i could, i would. It’s not that i don’t want to be responsible, it’s just that i don’t feel really confident that i can do it. But there is no way to escape it, so i will keep on praying for God to help me and keep doing my best.

With love from your sister in Christ,
Melissa

By: Elisabeth Gruber

Elisabeth Gruber — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 15:20:20 +0000

1.) Do you think young people in general have an unrealistic view of how long they can avoid adult responsibility?

~yes, most definitely… especially when “adultescence” is being accepted as ok and something to be accepted in the world…

2.) Have you ever had a friend talk about “staying young” and “just having fun?” Did you say anything to them about it? If so, what did you say?

~ I must admit, even though I’m only 15, I dont want to grow up; I want to stay young…not because I want to goof-off, but because I’m scared…I already know which college I want to attend, and even what career I feel I’m called to pursue (social work). I know growing up is a part of life and inevitable, I am just afraid that I won’t use these important and once in a lifetime teen years to the best of my ability to prepare myself for what God has for my future…I guess I’m afraid of somehow disappointing God.

3.) Whether its speaking to your friends about the rebelution, evangelizing, etc. have you fallen into the trap of telling people all about the “pills” and failing to adequately explain the nature and danger of the “disease?”

~I humbly and sheepishly say “yes”. I think it’s more important to tell them about the disease, because if they know about the terrible disease, they’ll want a “pill” or “cure” for that.

oh, and great post brett!

~Elisabeth J. Gruber

By: Joanna

Joanna — Fri, 18 May 2007 18:55:48 +0000

I had a closing thought to add to my last comment there. While getting older is unpreventable, and changes with that are not optional either, “growing up” is, to me, not nearly as important as simply being who God wants me to be. No mater if I am 40 or 17, there will always be change one way or another! What I personally chose to do with that change simply doesn’t relate so much to being an adult vs. being a kid. Adolescence totally aside, for me, it just has more to do with becoming more like Jesus.
In Christ,
~Joanna

By: Joanna

Joanna — Fri, 18 May 2007 18:26:13 +0000

I realize this is probably an old blog… but it caught my attention.

1.) “Do you think young people in general have an unrealistic view of how long they can avoid adult responsibility?”

I am totally one of the ones who decided to put off “growing up” until I was an adult. The reason I did this was because I saw ALL the teenagers around me being disrespectful and disobedient, hurtful, forming cliques (and bf/gf relationships), disregarding the Bible, and being proud of how “grown up” and “independant” they were in all of this. I decided if that is what “grown up” meant, I would stay a kid until at least I was 18. So I didn’t hang out with other teens as much. Instead, I worked in Awana (with kids) on youth group nights and taught 1-3ed grade Sunday school instead of going to the high school Sunday school. Is this considered being “grown up”? Not by other teens!!

Anyway, at least from what I see, teens don’t avoid adult responsiblity. All the teens I know, will jump at the chance to be independant. But what this means for them varies, and gets them in to trouble. For instance, a teen in our youth group just ran away from home. Right now, he is pretty independant, on his own. Does that make him “grown up”? I dont know, but its not positive.

2.) “Have you ever had a friend talk about ’staying young’ and ‘just having fun?’ Did you say anything to them about it? If so, what did you say?”

The differance is very muddled in my mind! I totally think you can have fun with responsiblity!!! Couldnt one “stay young” and yet be responsible and mature? Youth isn’t bad, nor is having fun. I think a person (no mater the age) can do both as well as be responsible and mature.

3.) “Whether its speaking to your friends about the rebelution, evangelizing, etc. have you fallen into the trap of telling people all about the “pills” and failing to adequately explain the nature and danger of the ‘disease?’ ”

Nope. I didnt understand that part in the blog either.