I can recall telling a lot of lies to my peers as a child. What I mean by "as a child" is elementary and middle school. Not only did I tell lies to my peers, but I also lied to myself. Most children feel pressured to fit in with society and in order to fit in then, they put on this false image of what society wants them to be. That's why it's important that children are taught what is true and what is all just a gimmick. Gimmicks are what got that 13-year-old girl pregnant. Gimmicks are what got that 15/16-year-old boy life in prison. What is a gimmick? Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines it as a method or trick that is used to get people's attention or to sell something. Our country is full of gimmicks. We have accepted same-sex marriage and it's being displayed on television every day. What I mean by "we" is society as a whole and not every single person. Our children are being exposed to it through cartoons. When has that ever happened? We just allowed anything to go. Our children need to train in the righteousness of God. Don't get me wrong, it's also up to the children to serve God with their lives also. When I gave my heart to Jesus at 14 years old then that was it. My heart was sold out for Jesus. Prior to that, I lied to my peers about being sexually active. Yes, I lied to my friends telling them that my I was having sex with different girls, but in reality, I wasn't doing anything whatsoever. And you know what I'm still a virgin at 22 years old. That's nothing to be ashamed of, but that's a blessing and an honor. I don't have as many worries and temptations because of it. I'm also more focused. I used to be ashamed of it, though. If you're not a virgin then don't be ashamed because Jesus died for all of your sins and shortcomings. God wants to deliver you and set you free. There are also a lot of young people who want to know what it feels like to be from the hood/ghetto/gutter. I say "young people" and not children because there are some people who I attend school with who are not from the hood, but the try to carry themselves as if they are.

I'll be the first to tell you that growing up in the hood is not all that sweet. It has it's sweet moments and caused me to grow up at a young age. Most people from the hood are trying to make it out. If you are from the suburbs then just be yourself. You're not missing anything in the hood. I'm from the Mobile, Al what is considered as the "Dirty South." It's a slow city, but it's a city of poverty and poor people. We have murders and crime out of this world. It feels like you're a crab in a bucket with no way out. I don't carry myself like I'm from the hood, but I know about public housing and section 8 living. I know about rock hustling and "slanging"(selling drugs). I grew up around a block called "the 4 way." That's where everybody from teenagers to grown-ups used to hustle. I use to see people stash their dope in potato chip bags and behind buildings.We use to wear Girbaud Jeans and dudes would hide there nick bags of weed and crack rocks inside of the straps. I had at least two childhood friends who had a mother or father that were drug addicts, if not both. At least 4 or 5 of my friends are or were in the penitentiary. I almost got killed at 10 years old. I was standing outside of my house one night with two of my cousins, my sister's dad, and his cousin. An all black delta 88 pulled in what we called "the circle". The car drove around the circle until it got in front of my house. Then a dude with blue jeans and a black sweater hopped out of the car with a silver nine millimeter and started shooting. God is so great because the first time he pulled the trigger, the gun jammed. That gave me time to run around the house. I pulled up my pants as I ran. I remember, I had on a Deion Sanders Falcons #21 jersey. It was too big, but that's how we wore our clothes in the hood. My best friend used to steal his older brother's clothes(his guns too). Thank God no one was killed that night. Not to mention, I wasn't even supposed to had been outside that night. I was trying to sneak into a teen club called the "Q-Balls." Boosie was performing that night and that was going to be my first time seeing him in person. Boosie was like 2pac to Mobile and the whole entire South besides Soulja Slim(RIP). Then a few months later our house was shot into while everyone was sleep. My family didn't find out about it until the next morning. As I was getting up for school (5th grade) the next morning, I heard my mother scream "something shot in my house. It was bullet holes in my younger sibling's room window. Not only in the window, but it was also a bullet stuck in the foot-board of the bed where my little sister's head laid. No one was hurt that night, but we still had to move because anytime something like that happens and the housing finds out about it then you had to move. That's how it was in the projects. A similar shooting happened 3 years later at my best friends house and his family were also forced to move. Some people didn't ask to be in the hood. People like myself was just born and raised there. You bet's believe when I found out that it was a way out, I got to pursuing that way out. I love the hood because it made me strong, but God made me even stronger. But I'll also be the first to tell you that the hood is full of poverty and when you are in poverty then you become limited. Our education systems is not as good. We have high murder rates. Don't get me wrong, problems exist everywhere. If you're from the hood or if you currently live there then don't be ashamed. Rather be honored because you're an underdog and underdogs have more to work for. Don't let it bring you down, but allow it to increase your grind. If you're a believer then don't be ashamed to operate by the kingdom of God. Paul said it best in Romans 1:16, " For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile." Turn your struggle into gold, your insecurities into confidence, and your shame into honor.