A Calling
I just got back from a retreat that was looonnnngggg....very long. I was completely exhausted from it, but after recovering for a weekend and praying over it for a couple of days I love to look back on retreats. I think about the word "retreat" and how it literally means to fall back. I know that I titled a blog "retreat" before but this isn't the point to the blog so I feel like I can fish back a little bit! Looking back over this past week with some pretty amazing seniors I am reaffirmed that I am exactly where God wants me to be. Sometimes it is hard to see that in all of the things we get caught up in daily. Sometimes people ask me how I came to be a youth minister and my answer has changed over the years a little bit but it always comes back to this simple fact: this is how God formed my heart. Let me get a little personal with you here.
I think that God has a unique plan for us, each of us. And I know that there are many times my heart has been far away from God, but He never stopped calling me back to what He wanted me to do. And ultimately it's this: youth ministry. I hear often that people are afraid of kids and that they think it would be hard to minister to kids in today's generation but to me, it's just what I am called to do. Am I good at it? Not always. Do I love it? Every minute! And retreats are a good reminder of that calling in my life and on my heart. Retreats are hard because everyone is at a different place, but I am so comforted when I put high school students in front of our Lord that He will give peace. It was something He promised: "peace be with you, my peace I leave with you." Our Lord never fails. Never!
God places a call on all of our hearts. Do you hear it? Do you listen? Like I said sometimes I didn't, but I know that in the midst of my darkest moments that call never stopped coming. The Fray wrote a song called "You Found Me" and there is a part in it that says, "I waited by a telephone that never rang" and it can feel that way sometimes but one thing I can promise you, one thing I am certain of: He will never deny you His peace if you ask for it. This call that God placed on my heart a long time ago is solidly founded in the teens that I am honored to serve. So retreat, even though it drained me of all energy, was rewarding because I was able to see God calling on the hearts of the teens who were there!
I think that God has a unique plan for us, each of us. And I know that there are many times my heart has been far away from God, but He never stopped calling me back to what He wanted me to do. And ultimately it's this: youth ministry. I hear often that people are afraid of kids and that they think it would be hard to minister to kids in today's generation but to me, it's just what I am called to do. Am I good at it? Not always. Do I love it? Every minute! And retreats are a good reminder of that calling in my life and on my heart. Retreats are hard because everyone is at a different place, but I am so comforted when I put high school students in front of our Lord that He will give peace. It was something He promised: "peace be with you, my peace I leave with you." Our Lord never fails. Never!
God places a call on all of our hearts. Do you hear it? Do you listen? Like I said sometimes I didn't, but I know that in the midst of my darkest moments that call never stopped coming. The Fray wrote a song called "You Found Me" and there is a part in it that says, "I waited by a telephone that never rang" and it can feel that way sometimes but one thing I can promise you, one thing I am certain of: He will never deny you His peace if you ask for it. This call that God placed on my heart a long time ago is solidly founded in the teens that I am honored to serve. So retreat, even though it drained me of all energy, was rewarding because I was able to see God calling on the hearts of the teens who were there!
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