9/24/08

$300 and She Loves Nebraska

I love our youth group students. Absolutely love them.

I love the could care less about God students, the ceiling dwellers hanging upside down, the students who get it - like really get it and live it, the Mountain Dew drinking spitfires, the kids with questions - hard questions, the athletes and band members and artists and AP everything students...

I love that we have students who are living out their faith now as twenty somethings and desperately seeking after God. I love that we have former students who are struggling to find their way. But they write and sometimes call and we hang on their words and hurt with them too. And those students, well, we couldn't love them more. There is always grace at the cross. Always.

Tonight we had our regular small groups. There was a badly sung birthday song, gooey yummy brownies and soda, Paul rambling with the announcements ( I love you honey and I can't think of anyone who loves our students better than you:) There was great insight into Luke 9:25, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?" There were random, out of nowhere, "I love Nebraska" comments and giggling and story telling.

And then there was the $300 that the students raised in a week and a half!!!!!! Ahhh!!!!! Since Ruth's mom passed away (their Compassion child), we challenged them to raise the maximum amount of money that we could give Ruth's family (in honor of her mom.) $300 and a bunch of teenagers and a week and a half and a girl loved on in Bolivia. Beautiful...

If that weren't enough, I sat in Heather's small group today. These girls have been raising spare change of their own accord. There were these little falling apart decorated Styrofoam cups with money in them. I think they called them Cups for Causes. Money for a crisis pregnancy center, a local family who had a fire, Operation Christmas Child boxes, and former students now in the military. The girls were giddy over them and brainstorming ways to love people... with quilts they didn't know how to make, brownies, baby clothes, and more talk of whipping up quiltage.

I'm really not sure what God has in store for these students, but I've got to say there's a good bit of hope, faith, and love going on. Stored up in simple prayers, big dreams, and spare change in little Styrofoam cups with wings.

I love our youth group students. Absolutely love them.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I sure love them too!

Michele

Abby said...

That's it....it's official..... I'm moving back home......

Kristin said...

Michele-

By the way, I can't even begin to brag on our youth leaders. I really can't think of a better ragamuffin crew than the one we've got. An odd bunch, but a bunch that loves Jesus and students. And that's enough.

And I should retract some statements. I realized Sunday that I don't love everything about our kids when I plopped down in the middle of the jr high guys. Oh my land did they stink after playing ultimate frisbee. Ughhh! :)

 

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