Each Monday on the Pure Purpose blog, I feature This Week’s 7, a simple list about an everyday topic, giving you ideas and encouragement. As many students are entering college, I’m reflecting on how the life experiences of this age group differ from those who precede them. Each year, Beloit College releases The Mindset List. Instead of reading through the sample list as something interesting or annoying, focusing only on the differences, use it as motivation to reach out and connect with someone of a different age and lifestage than you. Everyone needs encouragement. You just might need to learn a new communication style or assume a fresh perspective in order to connect and impact someone’s life. People are worth the effort!

A few characteristics of college students…

1. Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail.
2. Entering college this fall in a country where a quarter of young people under 18 have at least one immigrant parent, they aren’t afraid of immigration…unless it involves “real” aliens from another planet.
3. They never twisted the coiled handset wire aimlessly around their wrists while chatting on the phone.
4. DNA fingerprinting and maps of the human genome have always existed.
5. They’ve never recognized that pointing to their wrists was a request for the time of day.
6. Having hundreds of cable channels but nothing to watch has always been routine.
7. The nation has never approved of the job Congress is doing.

Send a text, Facebook message or join a Circle to connect with someone this week. Or, invite someone to Starbucks and order a “caramel macchiato” or “venti half-caf vanilla latte,” lingo that’s existed the entire life of those in their late teens. And if you’re right in the middle of the generation who relates to this post? Connect with someone of another generation by writing a note, picking up the phone, or spending the day fishing or shopping…without using technology to enhance the experience. Spend some time connecting. We all long for healthy relationships.

God does speak—sometimes one way and sometimes another— even though people may not understand it. John 33:14