Marriner’s Moments: Gen Y Stronger Bolder Wiser – Part 4

By Pastor Melvin O. Marriner
Grove Church

Millennials – or Gen Y as they are sometimes called – are stronger, bolder and wiser. As parents, educators and mentors, if we want to get their attention, we need to spend time listening to them, and if we are open, we may even learn from them!
Life’s challenges can be harsh, difficult and discouraging, but life is a journey and a process. We all want to get to the final destination – realization of our dreams – but too few of us wants to put in the time and sweat equity to get there. Let’s not give up on our future generation. Let’s pray, encourage and empower them. Let’s share our struggles and sacrifices with them, to help them understand the price we paid to realize our dreams.

Never stop dreaming

Most of us know the biblical story of Joseph the dreamer and how – ultimately – his dream came to fruition. We do not have to go all the way back to biblical times to find examples of people who had big dreams. For instance, Microsoft’s Bill Gates’ first business failed, but he didn’t let that stop him, and today he is a billionaire. Albert Einstein didn’t speak for the first three years of his life. Throughout elementary school, his teachers thought he was lazy and would never amount to anything. Today, his genius is world renown because of his Theory of Relativity. Oprah Winfrey was repeatedly molested as a child and at age 14 had a baby who died shortly after birth. Today, the media mogul is a billionaire. Jay-Z came from a tough Brooklyn neighborhood and had big dreams to make it big as a rapper. Unfortunately, the rest of the world didn’t agree with him at first. Not one record label would sign him. Yet that didn’t stop him from creating his own music powerhouse.
Persevere, dream and stretch as you continue to be stronger, bolder and wiser!
Peace and power.

© Dr. Melvin O. Marriner,
July 2016

We invite you to join us at Grove Church, 5910 West Norfolk Road, Portsmouth, Virginia, Sundays at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., Tuesdays at noon and Wednesdays at 7 p.m.