A part of having meetings outside is that sometimes you gotta think on the fly and make some changes. It doesn't rain too often here in Souther Orange County, but with Storm Watch 2014 on high alert this week, we decided to make the switch and move from the park to Cinnamon Productions. Good thing, because it was definitely wet out there this morning.
Its always tricky having a big group come to a restaurant in the morning, and we pretty much filled up the whole place. This morning was just a mellow hang-out time, but sometimes that is just what is needed. When we have times like that, it really allows us leaders to get to know the kids better, and, most of the time, it is the relationships that do the deepest work.
WyldLife is not about programs. We do have them, and we try to make sure they are something that kids really want to come be a part of, but they aren't the only way we seek to share the love of Jesus with kids. While I love playing games, talking to a group about Jesus, and leading small groups through different stories about Jesus and his crazy love for them, I know that sometimes the most important moments happen when you aren't really trying to do anything, when you are just being yourself with a kid.
In my own life, my Young Life leader changed the course of my life in a conversation he had with me that he doesn't even remember. I don't remember many of the talks he gave, I don't even remember many of the talks I heard at camp or anywhere else while I was a teenager, but I remember the relationships. I got to be pretty close with my Young Life leader. I got to see how deeply he loved Jesus, and how his life was an outflow of that. I also got to see him make mistakes, and I saw that he was anything but perfect. He didn't always say the "churchy" things, and on several times he actually used colorful language in front of me. It was one of those times that changed my life. He used a word that I won't repeat, but because I knew him, knew how deeply he loved Jesus, knew how deeply he loved others, and knew how deeply he wanted to be more like Jesus it made a significant impact. It showed me that he was real, he wasn't pretending, and his love was true. It showed me that I could be the same way, that following Jesus wasn't about being perfect, or being super religious, or even "churchy," but about truly knowing and loving Jesus. Up to that point I thought following Jesus was about having the right answers, using the right language, following the right rules, and going to church. After that, everything changed, and I realized that Jesus loves us, all of us, and that we can be honest. It showed me that I can open up to Jesus in every part of my life, and that being in relationship with him was real.
This is what Young Life and WyldLife are about. Relationships, and showing kids that Jesus loves all of them, and that they can actually know him and be themselves, warts and all. It shows them that they don't have to be perfect, but that Jesus loves them as they are, and as they get to know and love him, they will become more like him in a very real and true way.
My life would be totally different if I hadn't gotten to know my Young Life leader. I don't know where I would be or what I would be doing. I am so thankful for Jesus loving me through my leader Joe Bahr. I am so thankful for Joe letting me see that he wasn't perfect, and that following Jesus wasn't about acting a certain way, but about true love and true life.
I hope we get to do the same for some of these kids, I was transformed from an insecure kid, to a kid with confidence in the fact that Jesus loved me exactly as I was.
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