Worship this Sunday featured 16 of the youth of our church performing a very cool hand in glove/black light interpretive 'dance' to Who am I by Casting Crowns. It came from a video someone saw on youtube that they studied and studied it until they could diagram out the song and get all the hands to line up together. They formed pictures, words, beautiful images that complimented the music. It was a goosebumps moment and I was so moved by the music and so proud of the youth I thought my heart would burst.
Then I was part of a team that took them shopping to buy Christmas for 15 children. They held a spaghetti luncheon, raised money and then spent it to fill a need. They were excellent shoppers, and quite amusing. Many of them are young men and they stood in the toddler department holding up clothing asking each other if they thought this was appropriate for a little girl age three. They were told exactly how much money they could spend per child and all of them whipped out their cell phones to use the calculators to keep a running balance, and did a remarkable job. There were certainly some funny moments when several of young men tried to buy tee shirts with suggestive statements but all in all, they were spot on and very serious about their job. The only bad moment came when they were forced to wait in an enclosed space and they just couldn't keep from touching each other. You know this always leads to a wrestling match. Punches are thrown, someone turns red in the face. It's a given, one must avoid the touching thing if at all possible.
I realized I have been here long enough that some of these young people were just beyond toddler hood when I met them. I have had the opportunity to watch this group of scraggly youth grow and in them I see new hope for the future. They are certainly rough around the edges and there is lots of room for improvement. There is also, at least in a few, the promise of maturity, of responsibility, of the early stages of some serious faith taking root. How cool is that?! What a gift to see God nurture relationships with others.
When I close my eyes and think hard I am back to being a youth myself. I think of the adults who impacted my life, some intentionally, some not. My youth leaders, adults who volunteered, those who chaperoned on countless retreats. I wonder if they got to see the fruit of my relationship deepen and if it was a blessing to them, as these kids are being to me. Did they see the seeds of maturity, or did they never get to see beyond the head shaking, 'I sure hope that girl doesn't go to jail' part. I hope a few of them did. It's a great feeling.
I pray that God will remind me of these kids and the awesome worship this week on those days when I am frustrated at the mess we are in as a church. It gets to me from time to time and I mustn't let it. I must choose to believe that the God who is working in the lives of our youth is also working in the midst of even the worst of our messes. I must remember that all of creation is waiting in eager anticipation for redemption with the full confidence and expectation of God doing just exactly what He said He would do.
There is every reason to be hopeful this advent season.
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