The past two weeks have been a bitter sweet time for my family and I. We are in the process of relocating to Dallas and leaving a church where I have been for over ten years. I've been the Youth Pastor for the last six years and have thoroughly enjoyed this time in our lives. People have asked if I was sad, I think some of the students may have been disappointed that I haven't cried about them, but certainly this doesn't mean that we haven't been sad to go. Some time ago, before I announced to the kids that we would be leaving I prayed that the Lord would allow me to enjoy the time I have with them, that instead of focusing on how difficult it would be to leave, we would be able to remember with fondness the great adventure we have just experienced together.
It would be impossible to mention every student or every memory that has made an impact in my life. The truth is in so many ways I have been effected, challenged, and encouraged by their testimony and by their ministry to me. I will always remember the times we witnessed God's marvelous creation on a ski trip, or served alongside each other on a mission trip. I will cherish the times we delved into the depths of God's Word to seek answers to some of life's most difficult questions or played volleyball well past our bed time (or at least mine!) Students often get a bad wrap, as if you just babysit them and can't deal with the meat of Scripture with them. In my experience our students were always open about their questions, and quick to look for answers. They visited us at the hospital for the birth of our sons, they wept with us when we lost Eliot. We have rejoiced with them as they won games, made homecoming, or graduated, and wept with them as they lost loved ones, or faced other disappointments in life.
My prayer for them as they move forward is much like what I've always wanted for them, that they would take ownership of their faith, not coming or believing simply because they feel they were expected, but because they are pursuing a relationship with the Lord on their own. Secondly, I've prayed for unity among the group. Unity stands in contrast to what we see throughout culture, I've always wanted the youth to be a united group of students who treated each other as family. Finally, I pray that they move forward in their faith and in their lives now that we have left to experience new and exciting adventures with the Lord as their guide, and others as their partners and leaders.
What's different about the Peter Pan/Lost Boy connection is that the only thing that united them was their friendship and the experiences they shared together. As time went by their experiences and friendship would wain because it had been so long since they had been united by their experiences. For us as Christians, we have far more in common, or in union with each other than just friendship and experiences. Jen and I will always be connected to those students who came through the "Youth House" between 2005-2011 because we are members of one body (1 Cor. 12), indwelt by one Spirit, following one Lord (Eph. 4:4-6). In God's sovereign plan He brought Jen and I to that place and has now led us away and it was a time we will never forget. We will always love those students and the time we shared with them because we experienced a great adventure together and that's something we'll never forget...
I'll share more about this move and God's great goodness manifested through His servants in the upcoming weeks, but for now I have to get back to getting ready!
1 comment:
Just to be clear: you're moving to Fort Worth. The friendly side of the metroplex doesn't take kindly to being lumped-in with its pretentious, materialistic, traffic-sitting neighbors. ;)
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