I’ve been absent from the blogosphere for a bit; somewhat due to my creativity wandering off into an abyss of nonexistence, but also due to sheer laziness. But, I’m trying to rejuvenate my creativity so, here we go…Me and Justin Bieber have something in common. What? A 30 something woman and a teen pop sensation can’t share common ground? In 2011 JB had young girls flocking to the big screen in droves to go see his documentary “Never Say Never” and in 2012, I’ll be coining the phrase “Never Say Never” for my own personal use. (coming to a bumper sticker near you) You see, there have been several times in my life that I have said “I’ll never do ___” ,and days, weeks, months later I find myself in the exact situation I said I “would never do”. As a kid I hated okra, said I would never eat the stuff, now I have to get it as a side every time I go to Golden Chick. Tasty little fried green slimy nuggets of deliciousness.
Last year my son went on his first mission trip and had a great time so he wanted to go again this year. Several parents go as leaders… would I? No way. 5 vans full of junior high kids + very little sleep + dirty conditions + looooooooooong drive + 5 vans full of junior high kids (did I mention that?) = not my idea of a week’s worth of time well spent. Then I kept attending the mission trip meetings, and my son had mentioned that both my husband and I should go as leaders. When your teenager asks to spend that kind of time with you it’s hard to say no. That “never” suddenly turned into a “let’s do this”.
Fast forward to today. The week that I spent on the mission trip with the youth group and my family was one of the most life changing weeks I’ve ever had. There is no greater feeling that doing God’s work, surrounded by great people all while being able to see the lives of youth being changed. I met some wonderful people and made some great friends.
So that whole “never” thing? God always lets me know “never” is not an option when He is in control. Looking back I can almost see Him sitting up in Heaven smiling down laughing saying “Ha! Silly girl… you have NO idea what I’m about to do for you”. I have always had a heart for “troubled” youth due to how I grew up. I felt like I needed to reach out to youth that had already taken a path toward being lost and show them a path towards Christ and what He has done for me. What I have learned through this experience is that it doesn’t matter whether a child has been raised in the church or has never known Christ, they are all the same. They all need to be shown the same Grace and Mercy that we have all been shown. They need to be taught that Christ should be center of their lives and that He is who they should turn to, not the world, because the world will fail them. In a short amount of time, I grew to love those kids and now… I’m a senior high leader with our church. Go figure. From never to now.
I’m learning to not say never to God. I don’t want to find myself in the belly of a whale someday. My family and I don’t camp. And at the risk of finding myself in a little tent trapped by a big brown bear foraging for my food, I will no longer say we will never go camping…but I strongly insist that we stay home and leave it to the pros.
"Lord, I know that people's lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps." ~ Jeremiah 10:23
