Many of teens struggle with the idea of believing that our invisible God cares about their very real situations. "If He really cares, then why am I still in this situation?", or "What's the point of trying to live for Him? Nothing will change."
I am reminded of the apostle Thomas and his struggle with the resurrection of Christ. He needed to physically see the holes in Christ's hands to know that He lives. He needed the proof that God is really God.
So I decided to share my testimony with them. My hope was to paint a very real portrait of my life, not to receive their praise or evoke personal despair, but to encourage them and give them hope.
You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.
He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.
~ Genesis 50:20
I shared with them my difficulties in growing up in an abusive household while my father struggle with drug use. Because I learned to not trust others, I had developed a very independent and apprehensive attitude. At the time, I thought I needed to. For so long, I too felt like Thomas wanting to see Him.
Little did I know that while Satan was hard a work trying to destroy me, God was using every situation as an opportunity to pour His love into me. My stubbornness drew me into church and into His arms. My independent attitude helped me to filter out those negative influences and helped me to hear His Voice in the midst of chaos. Because I didn't trust others, I didn't struggle with the same peer pressures of teenage life and was able to lean on Him for strength.
I can now believe with confidence that God was there and still continues to be. God continue to heals and fill me in such a way that my past almost seems like distance dream. He gave me the tools and the power from His Son to tear down every stronghold, every demonic force, and everything that comes against His Kingdom. I am a conqueror in the Army of the Armies and my duty is to help those who have fallen and encourage them to fight with our Lord and Savior. Please pray for the encouragement of our teens and that they will begin to see God clearly in their situation.
Who would have known that Sugarhill Gang's song "Jump On It" would be the theme song of our summer? Rachel and I started humming the lyrics and doing the dance as an attention getter. You can only imagine how crazy we looked as all the kids watched silently as we danced to some song they have never heard before. The kids absolutely loved it! It wasn't long before it became our unofficial closing event at the end of every day, and even if Rachel and I were exhausted from the day's activities, we always had energy to jump on it.
Besides "jumping on it", we focused on being environmentally conscious and taking care of God's creation. While studying Mark 4:1-8, The Parable of the Sower, we engaged in activities that promoted stewardship over God's Creation and learning about our spiritual roots. In taking care of God's earth, we encouraged the kids to recycle and reuse trash items for fun activities. One of our most successful demonstrations of this was our junkyard sports day where we made soccer equipment and gear using materials found in our trash. We also made pompoms from tissue paper and jump rope from garbage bags. Give a few kids a few egg cartons and tape and one would be surprised at their creativity. We had a blast.
We also spent time learning about our spiritual roots and understanding that just as a plant needs to be in the right environment to flourish, we too need to have the proper preparation and environment to become fruitful. One moment that stands out to me was the time where we were drawing pictures about the people who help us to stay grounded in Christ. One young boy drew a picture of the world with a crack in it and over the crack was a hand. He shared that the crack represented the world and the problems that tear it apart. The hand is God's people that are here to repair it. He understood that he was sent by God to be the hand that helps others. Praise God for that revelation at such a tender age.
We made homemade lava lamps, created art by melting crayons onto rocks, played water limbo, sang songs, danced, and ate frozen fruit. We identified different types of seeds, role played, made hand puppets for our puppet theater, and ran home in the rain. We had a great summer. I truly believe God used this summer to plant seeds in our kids.
Our inspiration lol...enjoy.
