Hope

A hospital is a scary place for someone who hates to see others suffering. I've spent my whole life watching others suffer for various reasons and the older I get I slowly see the people close to me move on. Sitting here, I watched a young woman come into the area in a wheelchair complaining she couldn't feel certain body parts and crying because she was scared. God only knows what was stirring in that woman's head but I felt for her. I won't lie, I wanted to cry myself. She reminded me of one the kids in my youth group. I wanted to walk up and hold this lady's hand and tell her it will be ok. To say a prayer for her that gives her hope that she wasn't just another barcode in the sea of patients. Hope. That's really all we want in life when we go to a hospital or a doctor with an uncertain problem is a little bit of hope.

This weekend at Revolution I watched a young girl stand there crying after a powerful testimony. A testimony that included an attempt to end their own life. As I watched her cry I knew she had connected with that testimony on a deep level. Maybe she too has thought about suicide at one time. I really know how that feels. It's not a feeling you ever want to have to ever look back on. I know when I had those thoughts the only thing I ever wanted was someone to come along and tell me everything will be ok. After about 30 seconds of watching this girl try to hold her arms up in praise while trying to wipe the tears as fast as she could. Almost if she didn't want anyone to see her crying, I got up. I walked over to her and held her just like I do my own daughters. She just leaned in me and cried her heart out. This went on for about a minute. Eventually, she stood back on her own with her head down. I ask her if she minded if I prayed for her. I put my hand on her shoulder and she leaned into me as I began to pray for her. I prayed for her to have peace. I prayed for her to have hope. I prayed for Jesus to walk beside her because I knew this wasn't the end. She still has an open wound in her life that she's going to need God's guidance and God's unfailing love for. After we prayed I asked the girl her name and introduced myself just to remove any awkwardness. We shook hands, she said thank you, and then a few seconds later her friend ran over to give her the biggest hug. She was smiling again but I could tell there was still some reserve in there. I hope that my presence wasn't just some weird guy holding me but the arms of God letting her know that there is hope. Hope for another day. And a person will go a long way on a little bit of hope.

Revolution Recap

WOW! Where do we go from here? If you didn’t go then I can’t explain the feeling you have. It’s just indescribable. The Bethany Youth always amaze me in the love they have for Christ. This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to Revolution 2015 in Columbia, South Carolina. What did I take away from this trip?

The week leading up to Revolution was complete chaos for me. This week was grocery week and we are preparing for a big software release at work. Along with all my other commitments, there never seemed to be enough time in the day for sleep. I knew going into Friday was going to be rough and I prayed I could just stay awake for these youth on Friday. The drive up to Columbia was short and I think the anticipation kept me awake the whole time. We arrived at the Township Auditorium about 7 PM on Friday night. I was in complete “WOW” of everything. The music, the venue, the staff. Everything was awesome and far exceed any expectations I previously had about the event. As the music played and the kids danced I realized at one point that I no longer need alcohol to have fun in a setting like this. I’m a shy person in public but I’m slowly working on fixing that. This has never been something I liked about myself. I also realized that as adults, if we just have fun and embrace the moment we are all teenagers on the inside, just with more responsibilities. We capped the night off by taking everyone to Krispy Kreme donuts at 10:30 at night.

Saturday was another fun filled day. I remember one of the best parts of my morning was waking up and scanning through Twitter and Instagram for the hash tag #RevSC. It was a heart warming moment to see the comments the kids at the event were posting. We started the morning off by volunteering at a Agape Senior center for a couple hours. The kids worked hard and got to hang out with the Seniors at the center. It was a heart warming moment. I was also appreciative that I was given the opportunity to take 13 youth to the center with another adult. We met for lunch at a local church for pizza. Here I got to sit down and just get to talk with a few youth. I always value the time I have just to sit down and connect with what it going on in their lives. After lunch we headed off to the Township Auditorium for a few more sessions of the day. The last session of the day was the session I remembered the most. I got to see over 20 youth kids from Bethany go down front and be moved by the Holy Spirit. The best part of the trip was after the last session Will had the 20 or so kids meet in his room to talk to these kids and I was invited. I really got to know how they felt and to share some information of my journey with Christ with them. About 2 AM all the youth left to go back to their rooms and I got to do some brainstorming with Will for about an hour. It’s always good when you get some one-on-one time with someone you look up to. We both have very busy lives and never really get time to sit down and just talk very often.

Sunday we packed up from the hotel and drove to the Township Auditorium for the last session of the event. Royal Tailor, DJ Frank Clark, and Big Redd blew the roof off the place again for a third day. We had another great session by Jonathon McKee and then it was over. We stopped somewhere on the edge of Columbia to get lunch before we headed home. I had talked to Will prior to leaving the auditorium that I wanted to talk to the youth one last time before we got back to Summerville since Will wasn’t coming back with us. This was my first opportunity I’ve had to really speak to the kids as a whole. This is something Will usually does so I was a bit nervous and tried to stay to my notes I had taken earlier during the day. I talked to them about keeping Christ in the Center of everything they do and to not let their flame be dimmed by the rest of the world as they go back to their normal lives.

The drive home was rather fun. We jammed out to Royal Tailor music all the way back to Summerville. I got to think about some thoughts as I always do when I’m driving. That’s my thinking time. Here’s something I thought of. A life as a Christian is like the core values of the US Air Force.

• Integrity first
• Service before self
• Excellence in all you do

I could probably preach a 15 minute session on these alone since that are something I’ve pretty much lived my whole life by. I had some other personal thoughts about myself I need to work on changing and I’m slowly making a plan to do those.

I’m surprised how much I was able to stay awake through out the whole weekend. I went 4 days straight of being awake 20 hours a day going wide open and never really got tired. Maybe it was adrenaline. Maybe it was the Holy Spirit. What ever it was, I was surprised that I was able to still do that. One of the best parts was waking up ever morning and scrolling through Twitter and Instagram looking at the posts. I have to say I love being around  and connecting with everyone of these kids. This trip was definitely a confirmation of what God has called me to do and I hope the love and drive I have for youth ministry never dies out.

Matthew 28:19

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” ~ Jesus