Youth and Blind Spots

Yeah, the title is misleading. The two are totally unrelated but both have been tumbling around in my head.

Youth have been on my brain for oh, about 5 years now. Since the moment I realized God was calling my husband and I to minister to the youth of our church, I was nervous. I did not think I really had what it took, but I had just discovered the truth that my husband's ministry should be the priority and I was his right hand woman, as it were. I was the helpmate so by golly I was going to help. (insert random recommendation for the book Biblical Womanhood in the Home by Nancy Leigh DeMoss)

We stumbled our way along and God sent many sources (Holy Spirit whisperings, the Bible, books, people, videos...) to guide us. But one thing really caught me off guard was the Youth He sent to help us.

Here's what He did this month:

In our youth leadership class (about 5 youth) we have been working on their vision as leaders and who they see as their mission field. We have pretty much discerned that their gift as a group is friendship, so we challenged them to reach out to someone God put on their heart. Someone who clearly needed a friend.

Low and behold, God put the same person on the heart of two members so they proceeded to reach out to this person. After several days of building a relationship with him, one of the youth felt compelled to come to church early on Wednesday night to pray for this new friend. He told me he was praying a step by step prayer for this new friend's life. He prayed God would lead the new friend to church, then salvation, then discipleship. (this is the prayer of an 18 year old- can hear the creak of conviction on your own old rusty heart? I can.)

He continued to pray. I was practicing with the praise band and who should waltz into the door but their new friend. Apparently he also knew another member of our larger youth group and her family had talked him into coming that night.

You should have seen the faces of those two leaders. Glowing, Glowing. Their mouths were open. How had God done this? Was God really that Amazing? Yes, my friend, yes.

But it does not end there. Satan being who he is, was rather put out by all this. The young lady who had brought this new friend was now exploring her new faith in Christ and it was costing her at school. Dear friends were pulling away from her and our new friend was having doubts about whether he should continue to attend church with her.

She came Sunday broken hearted at his refusal to attend. Our youth leaders stepped up praying for her and our new friend. They start texting our new friend about how much they would miss him. And at the end of a long prayer time, the new friend texts back he is on his way to church.

Praise breaks out. Church service Sunday was full of praise and worship was alive. Almost our entire youth group huddled around our new friend at the end of service. He was struggling but welcomed them near, you could see it. They prayed over him, sang over him and generally made him feel like he was vitally important to them all.

This started with a group of believers all under the age of 18.

There is no reason this cannot happen in every age group of the Church!

In fact, it's biblical that these young ones be integrated into a multi-age family of Christ.

Pause... let it resonate.

Oops. I guess it does relate to my other topic.

Blind spots.

I have them. I made the crazy decision to pray God would show them to me when I had started noticing that many of my Christian friends had them.

It was only fair.

My normal policy is, if I see something to criticize in you, I have to turn it into a prayer request. So I was doing a lot of praying this week and thought it only right to turn it on myself.

Bam! A day later it gets pointed out to me that I do not pay attention to people as I should.
I knew I was absent minded but had I really worked and prayed to change that?

Food for thought. Sustenance for Pondering.