Filling our house with teenagers…

On Sunday Nights, Heidi and I have assembled a variety of high schoolers to dwell with, talk with, and walk with.  They are from all walks of life.  Some are from families with high morals, but little religious background.  Some are from broken homes, either recently split or severed back when they were younger.  Some have just given their lives to Jesus, two in the last six months.  I have a feeling several more have yet to make that personal invitation for God to come into their heart, to lead their lives as Lord and Savior.  Some of them are from good homes but are wrestling with their own beliefs, the ownership of their faith.

The things that they’ve shared since we’ve begun meeting in September have been gutsy and messy.  Their vulnerability has moved me and the more they open up, the more everyone else is emboldened to open up themselves.  I know things are being held back and held in still, trust takes time, but I feel that they are becoming more confident that what we have created on Sunday Night is safe and secure.  Some conversations would be considered superficial, but they aren’t.  We care even about the mundane goings on of each person’s life.  It’s important to me to explore their rabbit trails as much as the deep caverns of their heart.  It all matters.  Nothing is unimportant when someone is sharing a piece of their life.

Last night we were catching up after a little break over the holidays and I was struck with how good it felt to have our house filled with teenagers late into the evening.  Their shameless eating habits, their unedited thoughts, their laughter and giddy/goofy stories, their sprawled bodies on the couches and the floor of our living room…it all just felt so right.

There were a few things shared that have followed me into this morning.  My heart goes out to some of them who are facing resistance and confusion.  I can’t save them from it, but I can be there with them as they go through it reassuring them that they aren’t alone. 

Our youth are carrying heavy burdens, new expectations, and a glut of information smashing into them every day like a tidal wave with a killer riptide.  I feel it’s just important to stand on the shore and to make sure they don’t get caught in the undertow, and when they do, to rush to the shoreline and dive into the current to pull them safely ashore.

So my heart and eyes are fixed on my children, but also my next ring of children, these kids that I’ve spiritually adopted as my own.  I hope my wife and I can be a presence and voice that holds them together and points them toward the “life that is really life”. 

I have such high hopes for each of them.  God, be close to each of them today.