We are having a youth retreat next weekend and I am really excited about what we are talking about. Alyssa came up with the idea that we should talk about dealing with the hurt and pain in life because of the past year that a number of our kids have had. They had to deal with the deaths of classmates, alienation from trusted adults, suicide, drug related crisis, you name it and they have been faced with it.
So as it turns out we found a great resource and we are going to be talking about how life throws us curve balls and what we are able to do with them. None of us are effect in everyway and admitting our hurt and imperfection is the first step in letting God work in our lives. We are going to be exploring ways that we can use our stories (warts and all) to share God’s love with others.
I have attached a worksheet tool that has been of great help for a number of our leadership (youth and adult) in articulating their story. It is something that we got as a tool form another church and we are using it for ourselves. For a while I thought that my story of growing up in the church with no real “heavens opening up” encounter of conversion meant something was lacking in my spiritual life. But through reflection I have realized that there have been steps along the way and people in my like that have had a great impact on my spiritual journey. This tool helps sort out and look at our lives in a way that we might not otherwise. Give it a try. Let me know how it goes…even share your story with me. I would love that. Enjoy!!!
