So while I understand people are not receptive to religious dogma, and I am not a theologian, the freedom to worship, or not worship God is central to this civil liberty of our free society. It is freedom of religion, not freedom from religion that makes individual liberty possible. (See Dale Carnegie’s book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, 1944). God does not make us worship him. It is a choice granted by Him. This free will also gives us and our children the realization that we can think for ourselves and improve our own lots (one family, neighborhood, and community at a time) because God’s grace is endless and His mercy is abundant for those who fix their minds on even just one mustard seed of faith.

Last Monday, Marie Hall, co-founder of Living Smart Foundation in Carmichael, facilitated a personal finance workshop for teens and young adults entitled, Head Start to Money, at St. Joseph Marello Catholic Church in Granite Bay.

Jodie Stevens is the hostess of The Family Morning Show on 103.9FM The Fish in Sacramento, and the producer of Genuine Life with Jodie Stevens, a devotional about overcoming emotional difficulties including self-pity, anger, anxiety, addiction and low self-esteem. In a recent post, “How would Jesus want us to celebrate his birthday this Christmas”, she calls special attention to the challenges of the modern family, easily overwhelmed with gifting expectations that can lead us far away from the peace made possible by the birth of Jesus as the most precious gift to humanity.

“Social media is so incredibly superficial,” he said. “It is easy to be manipulated. So building trust with youth at home is incredibly important.” Davis describes trust as a cord of strands, wound together like a cable. “These are the deposits we make into the emotional bank accounts of our children through our regular interaction with them,” he said. “So we need to control our reactions to the things they say and do they will not be driven away.”

While the drive to fit in and feel connected is prominent during adolescent years anyway, this drive is intensified and can be used against them in very powerful ways with mobile devices and apps like Twitter, Instagram and SnapChat. Cooper Anderson sums up beautifully how being 13 is different today with social media: “There are so many more witnesses.” When we aim to have a relationship with a crowd, our life focus centers on pleasing people which inspires great anxiety. The simple truth is that self worth is first realized from within and then expressed outwardly; it is that inner knowing that we were created uniquely for a purpose that cannot be found by consulting the crowd or measured in worldly terms (sex, approval ratings, and money)...

This morning Banana Moments Foundation, a Roseville non-profit education center to strengthen parent and child trust bonds in a cyber-powered world, hosted a symposium on teaching youth to know their own worth. The symposium took place at the headquarters of Living Smart Foundation, a non-profit youth financial literacy and employment center in Carmichael. Marie Hall, founder of LSF, was one of the featured speakers who explained self worth as the engine of prosperity. “When I teach youth about financial literacy, I don’t start off by talking about money,” she said. “I teach to the psychological aspect of money – the beliefs, desires and values that impact decisions about earning, spending and saving.”

But the question for me remains: will purchase decisions be purpose-driven or will retailer and peer influence reign? Cyber-powered peer communities can easily convince us and our children of things that are not true and focus on things that don’t matter. And so when it comes to subjects involving consumer power (i.e., how much money you have to spend to show others what you now possess) it is very important to have good conversations about the role of money in living an abundant life.

Over the past decade I have come to appreciate that one of the most important things parents can do for the sake of our children and ourselves is to put aside shame. Let us consider the things that show up in dramatic, cyber-powered fashion that impart shame:

Many businesses fail for many reasons, with one of them being because the people that run and work there do not show professionalism in their work, communication, or attitude when they are representing their company or organization while on the job. These people are usually late, look strange and don’t follow through, or they make excuses. It does not matter what sort of business you are in; in order to succeed you must act professionally any time you interact with customers or potential customers. Even if you are an eccentric artist, you still have to act like a businessperson if you want people to give you their money. What makes you seem professional? Here are some thoughts.

Most of you (teens) believe that you are paid by the hour for your work, but in reality, we pay you based the value you bring to that hour of work. Dan Clark, a certified speaking professional of the National Speaker Association Hall of Fame in Salt Lake City said it perfectly – “When the value you bring to an hour at work exceeds your pay for that hour, you become a more valuable employee, and as a result, your job may be more secure, you may have more potential to advance in your career, and you’ll have happier, more fulfilling workdays.”