Did you rebel as a teenager? Of course you did. We all did. That’s what teenagers do.

I was a goody-two-shoes A student, so by some standards my rebellion was tame. Still, I did enough to make it official. I let my grades slip. I ran away from home. I went out with guys too old for me. And …. other things that drove Mama crazy. (Don’t worry, I’m not a Brazen Careerist tell-all.)

Anyway, talking to a friend over the weekend, I remembered something else I did as a teenager. I stopped going to church with my family. I didn’t refuse to go to church – I went to a different service at the same church. The 8 o’clock service.

Now, I’ve written about the 8 o’clock before, but I had completely forgotten that it was one of the ways that I began creating my own identity – what teenage rebellion is all about. Well, that and hormones.

But it worked. That separate service let me continue a relationship with God that was meat-and-potatoes spiritual food, and at the same time, do it on my own terms. It kept my family happy, too, I expect. They knew where I was, and what I’d be hearing.

Anyway, I shared that bit of rebellious wisdom with my friend, who had stopped going to the church where her mom was going. Maybe there was another service at the same church? My friend could attend that, rather than stopping altogether. She could still be her own person, without giving up church.

I don’t know what she’ll decide. But I do know that God loves her, no matter what. Because God Loves You. And Teenagers Rebel Against You. It’s just what they do.