The Long Slow Road

What we do in Young Life is often something that requires a great deal of patience. We don't set out to invade kids' lives and change their minds about Jesus and/or make them more obedient or better behaved. We go where they are, ask to be invited into their lives, and then love them in the Name of Jesus.

This is no quick job.

Sometimes I ask myself if what I am doing is making a difference, or if I am doing anything worth doing. I wonder if all I am doing is providing kids with "fun" experiences and nothing more. I am tempted to think that I must create something with dramatic and fast results. Something that shows that kids are meeting Jesus and that their lives are being changed.

Sometimes this does happen fast in Young Life, but, more often than not, it takes a LONG time, and us leaders may not ever get to see it happen. We might just be the ones planting seeds for someone else to harvest... but we stay in there. We love kids, and we do our best to walk with them, showing them the love of Jesus. It's a long and often trying journey. Fast results are intoxicating. Watching Jesus grab a kid's life and turn it around is one of the greatest things ever... but it's not my job, it's Jesus'. 

So please continue to pray for us over in Ladera Ranch. Pray that God would gift us with patience, desire, and discernment. Pray that we would find fulfillment in simply loving kids, and trust that he will do the rest.