Categories: uncategorized
Date: 26 February 2006 22:57:50
Some of you will already know something of my heart for my generation and the one that follows, for the young people who will be world leaders and employed workers in 10 years or 20 if they're not there already...
There is an echo in my heart of the song History Makers by Delirious. There is recollection of the young people of the Black Country being pryed for and sent out into their schools and workplaces as soldiers, harvesters and world changers. There is the knowledge of the way I could just break down and cry when I feel in my Spirit the vision of how awesome and incredible the destinies are of the crew I rub shoulders with, care for, welcome into my home and feed, have fun with and pray for... There is the awareness that whether I realise or not, some of me will rub off onto them and whether they know it or not I am a tool in God's hands that is instrumental in forging their destiny.
I watch my crew closely (you guys may not always notice that I keep an eye out for ya, but I do...) and I see them grow, walk through rough patches, struggle with one thing or another, lean on trusted friends and learn to lean on Jesus, joke and banter together, lift one another up and encourage one another, challenge each other, surprise everyone, and so very very much more. Each is precious. I could say like gold, but I think finely chiselled crystal is more the way I sense it. Gold is more workable and so on, and it's a good comparison at times, but more often than not I notice how vulnerable and easy to shater young people can be, so much more like crystal that'd end up in a squillion shards if you drop it.
I want to look after them in the small and confined ways I can. I want to be there for them and lift them up in the way God has appointed. I'm not a counsellor or confidante. That's a role others have and I don't begrudge it. I offer space and time, a place that is welcoming and that asks nothing in return. My home has an open door and it's opening wider and that is simply brilliant. I tremble with joy to know the victories in the life of one and the lessons in the life of the other, the hopes of yet another... It's enough for me sometimes to know that between these four walls, in my little house, there has been laughter, stupidity, silliness and general merry-making, munching and chatting, relaxing and friendships growing, and even better (Thank you you lot!! You are total stars!!) washing up being done that I never thought of asking for...
Truly, truly, I assure you, this small flock rocks my world!
And I'm just a hostess who said to God: "Please use my home". Can you imagine how they change the lives of their youth leaders and their parents?
A spin off of all this is that I forget sometimes that I'll be 30 in August, because I simply don't feel it with such a springy bunch of friends, but I've decided that being 30 has to be cool. 29's amazing and in Jesus's way of working it appears that regardless of what we go through things only ever get better, so I conclude that 30 will be just that: better than ever before.