Comfort

As I've been thinking about what to do for these girls and as people have been looking to me for guidance on what they can do, Matthew 5:4 has come to mind.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."

Sometimes our comfort comes through words or cards or flowers. Other times it just comes through presence. Last night I watched the powerful presence of dozens of our youth leaders and church members coming to the viewing to hug these girls and share in their pain.

This mourning I saw the presence of two of our youth group students standing at the graveside service beside one of the girls. Dressed in their black clothes and holding her hands.

The image struck me as I saw the depth of their friendship and the presence they were in that moment for her.

It was an incredibly sad thing to watch these teens as their mother was laid in earth at such a young age. It has broken each of our hearts.

Rain

I am sitting here in my office, watching the rain pour down outside my window and I can't help but feel that God is grieving with us.

Yesterday, two teenage girls in our youth group lost their mother to cancer. It was a long battle with an unexpected end. Our hearts are heavy for them.

It's times like this when I feel inadequate. If I were a Senior Pastor, maybe I'd have learned the words to say to a grieving family. If I were a counselor, I'd be able to delve deep into the grief with them. But instead, I'm just me. A youth worker whose heart goes out to these girls.

It seems there are times when all we can do is pray. To lift them up to the Lord and grieve alongside of them.

Are you still wet?

This past Sunday, a newborn baby was baptized at our church. I love watching baptisms, because there is something so innocent, so holy, about them. This week, our pastor held the precious baby girl in her long white baptism gown. He sprinkled her with water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and prayed over her. Afterwards, he walked her down the aisle so that all of us could see this precious little child of God. As he walked by my pew, I looked up and noticed that her head was still wet from her baptism, and that she was smiling.

There was something special about that. Seeing someone still wet from their baptism. Filled with the joy of the Lord. It made me wonder whether we are still "wet" from our own baptisms or whether we have dried up. Have we forgotten the precious gifts we received from the Lord? Forgiveness, grace, eternal life. Do we take them for granted as we go about our daily tasks?

The next time you witness a baptism, take some time to think about your own baptism. Are you faithfully living the promises you or your parents made? Are you seeking to grow in the faith and live in the joy of the Lord?

Are you still wet?

In the Darkness

"Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you." Psalm 139:12

I read this passage the other day and it reminded me of the dark times in our lives. In life and ministry we often go through periods where we feel like darkness is all around us and we can't seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

This passage is great, because it reminds us that our darkness is light to God. God knows what we are going through and he is right there walking it with us.