To Save a Life.
The movie, To Say a Life, that I mentioned in a previous post dealt with many different situations teens might be facing these days - depression, loneliness, suicide, cutting, divorce, teenage pregnancy, etc.
As someone who’s been working with young people for a couple years now, I’m always learning, always finding something new about the life of youth these days. I mean, I look at these kids and most of the time, they look fine and have smiles on their faces, but the truth is, I will never know what’s really going on in their lives until I ask them.
After the movie, we brought the kids back to church so we could break off into groups and have discussions about the movie. Who knew some of these youth were depressed at one point in their life, some thought about suicide, while others thought about cutting themselves. The discussions were such eye openers to myself and all the other youth workers and leaders.
My heart breaks for these kids and I thank God He’s placed me in the youth ministry. I want nothing else but to be a role model, someone they can trust and talk to if they need to. I just really want to be there for them.
I never knew I felt so troubled, so burdened until I found myself crying to the Lord.
But let’s just say God didn’t let me cry for long. ^__^
Hillsong - You Are Here (The Same Power) Live
I woke up today and this is the song that was playing in my head.
It’s such a great song.
It’s the last day of the Daniel Fast.
Wow. 21 days have come and gone and now it’s the last day of the fast. God has truly been amazing. I was able to hear His voice and feel all my troubles lifted away. I was also able to search myself, see where I went wrong before and now I’m excited for what God has in store for me.
And since it’s the last day, the Day 21 devotional ended on such a high note. I would like to share the end paragraph.
When you have tried everything and when you have no options left. When you’ve fished all night and caught nothing. When you say Jesus, I have nothing, it is in that place where we come to the end of ourselves and begin to discover Him. Like the disciples, we too find Jesus waiting on the shore. Not only waiting but also with fish on the fire. Jesus is always waiting for us with just what we need—no matter where we’ve been, no matter what we’ve done. What a good God we serve.
This follows along with John 21.
The weather was horrible this morning.
Gusty winds and rain. I could only imagine what it was like driving in it. So this morning, I just kept thinking about all my friends who would be getting up to go to work or to school and hoping that they would drive safely. I thought about my youngest brother too because it was his first day back to school today.
I was in my room and I heard him leaving and I really wanted to text him and tell him to be safe, but I didn’t because I knew he’d be busy backing the car out of the driveway by the time my text got to him, so I didn’t since I didn’t want him checking his phone while driving.
Turns out he got into an accident on the freeway. My brother is fine though [Praise the Lord] and so was the woman he hit. Apparently, someone was speeding and then spun out of control. The car in front of my bro braked drastically to avoid the spinning car, which caught my brother off guard, so he rear ended the lady. Don’t think we’ll have any issues with her though since there wasn’t any damage to her car.
I’m just happy my brother is okay. That’s all that matters, though my mom had a fit as usual. IDK. I think we’re all accident prone in my family, but the fact that none of us were harmed should be the important thing. Unfortunately for my mom, that isn’t the case. Once she hears accident, she starts crying about how are we suppose to pay for the damages. Like I understand, but shouldn’t she see if we were alright first?
This Saturday, the youth leadership team is taking the youth group to watch this move, To Save A Life.
I’m not good with summaries, so I’ll just share the story from the website.
Jake Taylor has it all - friends, fame, a basketball scholarship and the hottest girl in school. What could be better?
Enter Roger Dawson. Roger has nothing. No friends. No hope. Nothing but putdowns and getting pushed aside. Things couldn’t get worse…could they?
Jake and Roger were best friends when they were kids. But the politics of high school quickly pulled them apart. Now Roger doesn’t fit in Jake’s-or anyone’s circle-and he’s had enough. He walks onto campus with a gun in his pocket and pain in his heart and makes a tragic move.
Jake’s last-ditch effort can’t stop Roger, and the sudden tragedy rocks Jake’s world. Something breaks loose inside and sends him questioning everything. Most of all, he can’t shake the question Could I have saved Roger? In a quest for answers, Jake finds himself looking for the next Roger and reaching out to the outcasts and lonely. But he quickly finds out that crossing class castes threatens all his world is built upon. And it could cost him his own friends, his girl, his dreams and even his reputation. Is it worth the price to find the answer to his ultimate question: What do I want my life to be about?
So as youth workers, we just want our youth group to get something out of this - whether they’re experiencing a similar situation or know of someone who might be going through something like this.
(Picture and Summary via ToSaveALifeMovie.com)
Song of the Day
Run Kid Run - Freedom
Oh my chains,
I can’t disengage,
I don’t believe that I want to,
One hand sings Your praise, the other brings me shame,
I have selfishness to blame…
And I’m singing for freedom,
I know I’m not the only one praying to the One,
who can bring me this freedom,
I’m ready for change, change, change, change…
Looking down I lay,
I keep holding my chains,
no longer bound but here I stay,
I scream Father please,
I need rescuing,
I need You and You alone..
And I’m singing for freedom,
I know I’m not the only one praying to the One,
who can bring me this freedom,
I’m ready for, I’m ready for…
Still You patiently await yet I won’t just let go,
I see You and You alone, saying
Come follow Me, despair has come so you can see
Release
So I’m singing for freedom,
So I’m singing for freedom
The time has come-separation lost the war to love,
Take my hand, grace is found-yeah-where your words begin,
You’re alive, You’re alive,
in the waking of new life,
take my hand, in the end there’s only love…
(ooooo) there’s only love (oooo)
There’s only singing for freedom,
I know I’m not the only one praying to the One,
who can bring me this freedom,
I’m ready for, I’m ready for-
Father please, I need rescuing, I need You and You alone
I woke up earlier than normal today.
Initially, I thought it was because my Auntie Sharon sent me her early morning words of encouragement texts. But soon after, I realized it was probably God who woke me up. It’d been a good week or so since I sat down, read His word and spent any one on one time with Him. And it was definitely time to get back into my devotionals.
So I spent about 2 hours reading chapters from the book of John and just talking to God. It felt great, especially since there had been a few things that were burdening me and He was amazing enough to lift these burdens away.
Like the rain that is pouring outside right now, all things are washed away and made new.
Hi. I'm Heather.
Welcome to my blog.
With the new year comes a fresh start, a new outlook and a hope for greater things to happen. Though this new year may also bring new test and trials, I believe through it all, there is One who will stick with me. I started this blog as a dedication to Him, our times together, my position as a youth worker and everything in between.
