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<\/a>Six or seven hours of school, two hours of sports training, an hour of arts or music practice, two or three hours of homework and what\u2019s left? What about dinner around the table? What about a family reading and praying together? What about relationships with friends? Is this packed to the brim life producing the desired results? I don\u2019t think they are.<\/p>\n\u201cAccording to the National Institutes of Health, nearly 1 in 3 <\/a>\u00a0of all adolescents ages 13 to 18 will experience an anxiety disorder. These numbers have been rising steadily; between 2007 and 2012, anxiety disorders in children and teens went up 20%<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n And yet we\u2019re the church. We\u2019ve got peace like a river, don\u2019t we? Or have we (churches broadly) turned into just another place to perform? Is it yet one more thing clamoring for the time and efforts of families already stretched to the breaking point? One night at Knights of Agon I decided to take the group through a silence and solitude exercise. I didn\u2019t really know how this group of energetic kids would react to being asked to stay silent for two full minutes while just listening to what God may be saying to them. Imagine my joy when one of them says \u201cwow, that actually felt REALLY good in my brain\u201d.<\/p>\n It seems to me that the Prince of Peace would love to have some time <\/em>with these young people if they could just do a little less. Maybe if they could spend some time just lying in the grass or counting the stars then they could hear God calling out their name. I don\u2019t claim to have the answers to todays\u2019 very difficult questions about kids and families in the church, but what if the church is a place where young people just sit and experience the Peace that passes all understanding rather than a place that asks even more of them?<\/p>\n