Boys are Overrated

I volunteer at a community center twice a week. The center is a branch off from our church, so you can call it Christian based although we don't shove the belief down the throats of the kids. Basically, we offer a safe place for kids of all ages to come hang out and be entertained.  And we feed them. So that makes them happy!

The young girls seem to enjoy talking with me and ask me to "hang out" with them. From the six year old little ladies who ask me to make bracelets for them to the twelve year old tweens who talk to me about boys.  

Sigh...boys.  

Why are preteens so worried about boys already? I was one of them twenty years ago. Well, to be honest, I was boy crazy as early as kindergarten. I so very deeply wanted to be in love. I have no idea why. But boys had the answer to some epic question I started seeking very early in life.

Today, one of the twelve year old girls named Chelsie (who has a twelve year old boyfriend named Gavin who also hangs out at the center) asked me, "Why do you say we are too young to have boyfriends?" Oh. My. Gosh! God opened up a door for me to stick a foot into! But I tripped as I was walking in.

I didn't know how to answer. And I didn't know how to tactfully bring God into the conversation without scaring the Chrisitanity right out of her. I fumbled with my words until this came out:

"Well, I think there is more in life that should be of greater importance to you at this age."

Ooh. That was good!

"What do you mean?" She asked

Yay, God is giving me another chance.

"Are you ready to get married, Chelsie?"

She laughed.  "Not for a while."

"Then why do something that is meant to find your husband when you are not even ready to think about marriage?"

She took that to heart. I sat there with thoughts of saying, "also, Jesus wouldn't be happy with you," or, "because you should spend the time you are worshiping your boyfriend worshiping god instead."  I thought about it, but I knew if I said it, I would lose her. She didn't need to hear that. So I said this to make her want to hear more from me:

"Speaking from experience, not as a mom, not as a grown up, nothing but someone who has been there too, Chels, if I could go back and forget about boys until I was much older and focused on something else, my life would have been so different."

She stared at me ready to hear more, but I allowed one of the younger girls to interrupt by tying a bracelet I was braiding onto her outstretched wrist. I said enough. Just enough. 

Now she is waiting to hear what I would have rather focused on instead of boys. How my life would have been different. And God will give me that opportunity to tell her the love she is looking for is way easier to get than to obsess over boys all the time.  God has me there for a reason.