somewhere between silence & screaming

The thing about loving on high schoolers for Jesus is… sometimes there is such an urge to tell them how different things will be when they’re out of the high school bubble.  I never listened when people told me that, but now that I’ve lived it, I’ve seen over and over again how true it is.

I want them to absolutely fall in love with Jesus.  No obligation, no guilt, no manipulation, no misconceptions, nothing lukewarm.  I never want to be anything but upfront and honest.  I never want to mislead or undersell.  I want them to meet Jesus, count the cost, love Him and follow Him.  He’s that worth it.  He doesn’t need shiny, pretty things to sell people on His glory.   He uses broken, damaged people to show people His glory.  He’s so good.  So, so good.

When I look at where my life was summer after my senior year of high school, if you had asked anyone in my little group that summer to name one person who would be working alongside the Church full-time when we all got out into the “real word,” I would have been the last name on the list.  I am a broken, damaged person, and God is using me.  His love, grace and perfect timing never cease to amaze me.  

Steve Jobs died today.  He was a pretty big deal.  As I read the news articles & quotes floating around the Internet tonight, I read one where He was telling college students that you can’t look into the future and connect the dots.  You can only look to the past, see the dots that have been connected, and live like the dots will keep connecting as you move forward.  I’ve been quite liberal with my paraphrasing here.

Now Jobs was a Buddhist, so I know I’m taking this differently than he intended, but… the man has a point — a really great point.  I can see all the dots that God has connected, and I’m living with the confidence that as I follow Him, He’s going to keep connecting them. That’s faith.  The confidence of what we hope for and the assurance of what we do not see.

My computer is about to die, so I’m guessing that’s my cue to sleep.