Welp, today I did what most youth workers try to refrain from doing their whole 'careers'. I cried while I taught. Oh, that might not seem like such a big deal, but when working with teens, whose emotions are sporadic bursts of highs and lows by their own accord, the last thing I want to do is make them think their teacher can't control her emotions either. I failed. Miserably.
This summer the kids have watched various videos from Francis Chan, and today was a new one of Louie Giglio. The irony of today's video is that it was filmed here in Houston and focused around space exploration. One of our dear friends was even called out by name in the middle of Louie's talk. It felt like deja vu, listening to Louie describe things our friend would talk about weekly in Sunday School as my teacher when I was a teen. Louie went on and on about how big the universe is, how God is bigger, and how all of God's creation declares His glory.
Examples:
The Cross in Space is from the Whirlpool Galaxy.
The galaxy in which this is seen:
And then Louie played a clip of radio wave sound frequencies picked up from thousands of light years away. It was awesome.
Isaac and I were sitting in a room with about 20 of our most favorite teens. Listening to Louie talk about how big our God is made me incredibly aware of just how small we are. I was completely floored and overwhelmed by the Spirit moving, and couldn't help but think that our kids, even the ones that have grown up in church, might be sitting there thinking, "well, if God is so big, then why in the world does He need ME?" Louie's presentation was great, but I knew God was telling me to add to it before ending class.
Overwhelmed by how much God loves each of us, in spite of how big He is, I read to the kids from John 1:1-4 and then read to them Psalm 139. None of these verses were new to our teens. They know them well, but I had a passionate desire to remind them that God made each of them on purpose for a purpose. He loves them and wants them and pursues them each second of every day. And knowing that, and trying to get that across to our kids caused me to just flat out lose it. I'm not talking little droplets that quietly flowed down my cheeks as I spoke. I'm talking about huge, breathe taking sobs that made me shake with the enormity of all that our Creator is and does. Oh, how I pray the kids heard God's Word and weren't distracted by the emotion. I'm laughing about it now, but it was a bit embarrassing in the moment. Youth ministry, and life with Jesus, are messy things, and I'm blessed to share this road with phenomenal kids.
This summer the kids have watched various videos from Francis Chan, and today was a new one of Louie Giglio. The irony of today's video is that it was filmed here in Houston and focused around space exploration. One of our dear friends was even called out by name in the middle of Louie's talk. It felt like deja vu, listening to Louie describe things our friend would talk about weekly in Sunday School as my teacher when I was a teen. Louie went on and on about how big the universe is, how God is bigger, and how all of God's creation declares His glory.
Examples:
The Cross in Space is from the Whirlpool Galaxy.
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Isaac and I were sitting in a room with about 20 of our most favorite teens. Listening to Louie talk about how big our God is made me incredibly aware of just how small we are. I was completely floored and overwhelmed by the Spirit moving, and couldn't help but think that our kids, even the ones that have grown up in church, might be sitting there thinking, "well, if God is so big, then why in the world does He need ME?" Louie's presentation was great, but I knew God was telling me to add to it before ending class.
Overwhelmed by how much God loves each of us, in spite of how big He is, I read to the kids from John 1:1-4 and then read to them Psalm 139. None of these verses were new to our teens. They know them well, but I had a passionate desire to remind them that God made each of them on purpose for a purpose. He loves them and wants them and pursues them each second of every day. And knowing that, and trying to get that across to our kids caused me to just flat out lose it. I'm not talking little droplets that quietly flowed down my cheeks as I spoke. I'm talking about huge, breathe taking sobs that made me shake with the enormity of all that our Creator is and does. Oh, how I pray the kids heard God's Word and weren't distracted by the emotion. I'm laughing about it now, but it was a bit embarrassing in the moment. Youth ministry, and life with Jesus, are messy things, and I'm blessed to share this road with phenomenal kids.
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