As the mother of six children and a school counselor of thousands of teens through forty years of listening to children, parents, and teachers, the word "trust" is one that I have held onto by a fingernail, lost altogether, found unexpectedly, and acted upon blindly.

When five of my six children were on the road in cars, my husband and I kept a police radio on all night or at least until all kids were in. Somehow their names or the names of their schools or favorite haunts would wake us up from deep sleep. Did I trust my own children. No. When they said that they would be at the mall in a movie theater and that I could pick them up at ten o'clock, I did not know for certain that that is where they were. This, of course, was before cell phones, pagers, and tracking devices. We had to operate on a trust we did not have in our kids. They were great kids, but they were kids, nonetheless. At my sixty-fifth birthday party in New Orleans, I learned hilarious stories that I have yet to assimilate...things that I never knew about...things they lived through.

As a counselor, I hear tales today that are so far beyond what my grown children ever knew or even heard about that it is hard to remember that these students are still by law children. When I ask questions about drug use or sexual activity, I cannot trust all that they relate, whether good or bad. When parents come to see me and say that they have never laid a hand on their child, I cannot trust all that they say. When teachers defend themselves for actions in a classroom, I am never certain that the facts and presumptions and point of view is totally trustworthy.

As a parent and grandparent, I do not always trust my advice, decisions, and attitudes. I make errors even with great forethought. I give advice based on my own experiences and have attitudes that are not prejudice free. I cannot trust my own motives, much less others.

However, I do trust and I ask parents, students, and teachers to trust me. I do not trust teenagers; I trust God in those teens. I do not trust adults; I trust God in those parents. I do not trust myself; I trust God in myself. I trust in the fact that man has made it on this earth for a very long time, and people have interacted with each other, rqaised children who grew up and had children of their own. I trust that as weak as I am and as ignorant as I can be of games, devices, ploys, plots, and plain old lying, God in me can do wonders. I trust one source...God and God alone. And, if I am listening to Him, He trusts me.

Learn more about this author, Martha Ellis.
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