Youth

Tonight was the Fall kick-off for the youth group at our church, and my first night as a leader. We're taking a step toward more focused Bible study and spiritual growth, rather than just fun hang out nights. I'm really excited by what I saw tonight. We had about 12 kids show up, and the time spent together just felt so right. The music was happily accepted and sung with "umpf". The prayer requests were thoughtful and heartfelt, the conversations were deep and positive, and the singing continued on into the time around the bonfire. These "kids" are so precious to me, and the more I realize how precious the are to God, the more I care for them and am concerned about their walk with Him.

When I was a young teen in youth group I vividly remember my youth pastor telling us she did the "yo-yo" relationship with Jesus for YEARS, and encouraged us to NOT do the same. Well, guess what? I did just what she told me not to. I had a "school Holly" and a "home/church Holly". I knew the right things to say at the appropriate places or around the right people. I did things I knew were wrong, but justified them by thinking that someday when I'm "grown up" and settled down, then I'd have time to fully commit to my relationship with Jesus, and maybe I'd stop messing up so much.  How confused was I?  However, because of my own experiences, it makes me well aware that the youth I'm working with have these same challenges and more thanks to cell phones, social media, overexposure to sex, and the widely accepted grey areas in our society surrounding all kinds of moral issues. In today's world, right is not right. wrong is not wrong, there are variations and degrees of black, white and grey. I understand that there are some situations that call for compromise and may not be so cut and dry; but on the whole, there are absolutes that our society does not recognize. As if being an adolescent isn't hard enough.

So my prayer for these young people is that they would seek God and find Him. That they would search out His will for their lives, and live in it, and thrive. I pray that they stand up against the grey areas of society and fight for what is right, and against what is wrong. I pray they have hearts softened toward the poor, widowed and orphaned, and they would be consumed with love and compassion, and make a positive difference in the life of others.