Not a Counselor

This past week has been very different than I would have expected it to be. Both in the process of the week and the outcome of events. I house sat for a family which turned out to be a great relationship builder with them, I went out to lunch at least three times with students, got a plan together for an after school program and a few other things. It has been a great week I would say.

As I was saying, I house sat for a family in the youth group while their mom is in the hospital. I only had to drop them off at school and/or make sure they got on the bus. I didn't think it was going to be that much of a deal to them. I was hoping for a little more trust/relationship building time with them, but I only got breakfast and dropping them off at school. God took that little amount of time and used it though, at the end of three or four days they came up and asked if I would want to go to a theme park with them, and I am able to easily engage them at youth group too. As this happened I realized that God can use even the smallest interaction for something great. Also, if you really care about something or someone, people (whether young or old) notice. This can be good or bad. This case happened to be good, and now they are beginning to trust me.

I was talking with someone the other day when I thought of something. Kids learn life lessons and morals not by being told, but by being shown. As much as we would like to believe otherwise, I think students and kids prefer to have something practical set before them to learn from, not just an abstract idea. Though I could be wrong and I am the exception and not the norm. The thought that I had stills remains. The Old Testament in the Bible is written mostly in stories or morals and beliefs, not abstract ideas about beliefs. The Old Testament functioned as Israel's History book, their story book and their book of Law. There wasn't a whole lot of abstract ideas of following God or believing in Him, but stories about people who have. This is why I think that stories are a great way to teach people an idea or concept. But that is the opinion of a "know it all" college student. I am sure when I graduate and no longer know everything that will change.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, the first of November! What happened to the year? The after school program is tomorrow, needless to say, I am pretty excited about going. I took a more active role and gave the teacher a little bit of a break. I need to start using my Youth Ministry degree in something, and this is something that I really enjoy. Joe D and I met on Friday to talk about what Epic (the after school program) might look like. We landed on "Fellowship" and the "one another" commands of the New Testament. There is roughly 13-16 different "one another" commands, and I think 14-15 weeks left of epic for the school year. Since it is a Christian fellowship type thing that meets, I thought the subject is fitting. The topic is easy enough that if one of the students wanted to teach they could, too. Pray for Epic and the students involved

I got to talk with my Dad on Friday for a while. I really enjoyed that. We talked about some of the things that I have posted on my blog and different things going on at home. I am very glad we had that conversation and I look forward to more in the future. Everything at home is still pretty normal - or I should say, the same. Nothing new is happening. Mom is mom, dad is dad, my sisters are still my sisters, and the world is still a mess. God has been working in my family though, and it is very cool to watch in retrospect what he has done. To name one: Shanyne is considering taking a listening class to help other hurting students in her High school. This would provide a great inlet for her to build relationship to ultimately share the love of Christ with people. Dad said she was excited about it. I don't blame her. I am excited for her. Pray for Shanyne as she seeks opportunity to love people

One of the times I went out for lunch this week I met with a student who's life isn't exactly heavenly. I have spent the last couple of weeks getting to know him and building a level of trust. Then this week I asked him some hard questions about what he is going though. When going through this time of situation, talking is the last thing someone wants to do, but it is one of the most valuable things. I gained a since of freedom from my pain when I talked about them. It's as if I acknowledged them and then could move on. I said it hurt me and that I was hurting, and for there I could begin healing. Being asked the hard questions myself I also was able to get to the bottom of my pain and see all the areas that I have been affected. Now I have the responsibility to help others to to the bottom of their pain as well. Pray for Anthony and I as we process through life and seek God in the midst of out hurt

(This is my opinion, I do not have a degree in counseling or anything of that nature. This is just my experience) People often refer to something like this as "being wounded" or "hurt" and those are correct. When something like separation or tragedy comes into our lives, it is a lot like a wound. But also like a wound, it needs to be thoroughly cleaned out before it can properly heal. It might scab over or stop bleeding, but that is not healed - It could still get an infection or something. If a wound does get an infection, the cleaning process must be that much more thorough. By asking questions and talking about it, we are able to flush out the wound and let healing start. Word of caution: cleaning out a wound, especially a deep one, never feels good when you are doing it, but it must be done.

I have been very encouraged by all that is going on. I get excited to see things start moving and God working. I am excited to see what God will do with the situations that I am a part of and the stories that will come of it. Continue to pray for my family. I believe that God can turn it into an incredible story of restoration and redemption. That is my story and I am sticking to it!

I talked with Rachel last night, she is doing okay. She is not excited about the snow they got out there. Nearly 10 inches. She is very excited that she only has 24 academic weeks left in her school year before she graduates. She has a lot to get done between here and May though, Pray that she keeps focused on the true goal and finishes well. Whatever that means.

Blessings from a pilgrim

Later