My Story Is Just a Little Different

Last year I was at a church VBS where the teens had been prepped to share their testimonies. One by one girls got up and tearfully talked about all the things they had done in their young lives, but then someone invited them to church, and Jesus changed their lives. Then they shared how great life was now that they knew Jesus.

Then the VBS Director asked me to share my testimony with the kids. This doesn't happen very often. And honestly, my story was very different than the stories told before.

You see, I was a pretty good kid. I hadn't done drugs or any of the other things that often creep into testimonies. Then one day my pastor's daughter, Joy, told me I couldn't take communion if I wasn't saved. I think I took it anyway. But then my Granddad asked Jesus into his life and I saw a change.

As best as I remember, I was laying in the roll away bed at my grandparents when I began to feel strongly that I needed to ask Jesus into my life. It became very obvious to me that I had done things that displeased God, called sin. I knew the penalty of sin was death from a verse I had read in the Bible. I had also heard from another verse that if I asked Jesus to forgive me and come into my life, He would. So, I asked Jesus to come into my life. There were no people there. No one knew, it was just me and God.

Most people share how much better life gets when they ask Jesus into their lives. My story is different.You see, a week before I was suppose to be be baptized, my dad went camping. He never came home. He passed away that weekend. (I wasn't that detailed with the kids, I just told them that my dad died shortly after I asked Jesus into my life.) You see, when I asked Jesus to come into my life in a lot of ways my life got worse.

But, it also got better. You see, although the pain from my dad passing away was very real and hurt, a lot. Yet, in some way, I knew that even in my pain God still cared for me and loved me. He really did help me get through that time. Over the years, God has also made it very clear that He is the Everlasting Father who will never leave me.

My story was different from the youth that day, and that's okay. We all have different stories. The truth is God has given us all a unique story so that we can share with others. My story may relate with some people, and yours may relate with others. The important thing is that we share.

Confessions of an Insomniac

I'm not usually an insomniac, but for whatever reason, I've been trying to go to bed for 2 hours and it hasn't worked.
Maybe its because of the high amount of caffeine I've had today (although I've had none since 4:00).
Maybe it's that our family dog of 17 years is acting funky and I'm a little worried about her.
Maybe I went to bed too early.
Maybe Grandpa's still watching TV and because he's hard of hearing the sound is distracting me.
Maybe it's that the Grandparents don't believe in AC overnight and I'm a little hot.
Maybe I shouldn't have sent that text message right before I laid down.
Maybe it's all of these things.

I don't know, but I like to think I've been making good use of the time while I've tried to sleep.
First I tossed and turned and decided to go over my children's church lesson in my head.
That was great except I remembered a great memory verse trick to help my youngest class members (putting shapes on the bottom of the words so they can connect a "puzzle" and then we can go over the verse. eg. a heart on both the word and the word after it, then a square on the next two cards and keep going until you get to the end.)
And when I remembered the game my brain wouldn't stop until I prepared the game.
So then I reread the lesson plan.
Then I turned off the light and laid back down, hoping that with my lesson more than ready I would get sleep.
As I tossed and turned I decided to pray for people. As I was praying I looked out my window. Right between the two trees was the moon, whose beams look like a perfect cross. I thanked God for the cross.
Then I decided to try to get a picture of the cross. My cell was right by the bed so I tried camera phone. I got a very little white dot. I turned on the light and looked for my camera. As I almost had the perfect angle, the battery died. And the very bright moon is still shining in my room, a mixed blessing.

Apparently, I wasn't suppose to get a picture of the cross. However, after a day that left me longing for whatever is next, the cross was a great reminder that God still knows what is next and He's got it covered. I needed that, so once again I say, "Thank you, God!"

Now, as I add blogging to my list of things I'm doing because I can't sleep, hopefully sleep will find me so I can be rested for class in the morning.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you will take advantage of this holiday being on a Monday by using Sunday to encourage your kids to pray for our country. Suggest that your kids pray for national, state, and local government leaders. You may need to print pictures of some of the leaders if you are praying specifically.  Explain that all of our leaders need wisdom from God to do their jobs well.

I realize that we all have political preferences. Please be careful to keep these out of your children's ministry. You aren't there to talk politics, but to encourage prayer for our leaders (whether we like them or not).

I admit, I don't pray for our leaders nearly as much as I should, but I do try to pray when I think about it. Perhaps I am also challenging myself in this respect.