WoW! Life sure can bring many joys and many sorrows, many happy times and frustrating times. I am in one of those frustrating times right now. A one-on-one battle for souls!
We leave for Sharptop Cove this Saturday. STC is a Young Life Resort in Jasper, Georgia. It is the Best Week of a Kids Life! Guaranteed. Or their money back. We (meaning God) raised $13,180 to help kids go to camp. We have 32 spots to fill and we have 27 folks signed up. That is great. Butt (yes, I meant to put two 't's'!), it does not diminish nor erase my frustration. Kids today, it seems, at times, are incredibly content with nothing. I think this C.S. Lewis quote says it best, "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." I really feel like we have bought into satan's lie and that we are content with playing with mud pies in the slums! While Inifinite Joy is offered us as well as a holiday at the sea!
It seems as if we could not give the camp away. The teenagers that I really want to go have an attitude like, 'Why should I? What's in it for me? Whose going?' I can understand the 'whose going' question. Few people are ok going foreign places alone. But once you have seen the video, how could you not be excited about going. And for FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! That's right! I have offered this camp to kids for FREE and they turned up their nose at it. They said that they would rather stay in Killeen, Texas, play video games, MySpace and text than go to Georgia. If there is anything on earth, this makes me want to drop an 'F' Bomb! It boggles my mind! I cannot comprehend it. Jesus, I need your help along with your grace. I am giving all that I have until we load the bus on Saturday and then I will focus on the kids that ARE on the bus. It seems like I can honestly feel this physical fight with satan over the hearts and souls of teenagers. They have settled for mud pies...
In light of all of that, I have seen this several places and wanted to share it with you all. I like it.
Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. If you can read this - Thank a teacher!
Rule 12: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you're out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth. That's what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for "expressing yourself" with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.
Rule 13: You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven't seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.
Rule 14: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school's a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you'll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now. You're welcome.
Have you seen that on the email circuit yet? I think that it is all too true. The days of saying 'hard things' seem to be over. Except in my household! Life can be ugly. It seems like everyone knows that, but no one is able to say it.
But, inspite of all of that, Jesus has called us to love people. And to love them well. So that others may see our Savior through us! Is that you?
I love and hate these high school kids. I think my parents probably told me that one time. That they love and hate me at the same time. Is that possible? I love these kids, their hearts, their souls, but I hate the mediocrity that they settle for! It drives me NUTS. I worry about them. I just do. Is this normal? If not, I have been doing it for 9 years too long.
Secondly, we (our YL area) are struggling financially. We dipped below the Current Operating Balance into the red. Or is it black? Whichever is the negative, that's where we are. Kind of. We actually have a Money Market Account with $40,000 in it. We have about 40 monthly donors comprising of $4,000 per month Revenue. But out Expenses are about $10,000. There is a $6,000 difference. And it's not on our side! So, please pray about our finances for YL. This is a hard thing to admit. So often I measure my ego / pride on the 'success' the things that I do. I know it's not right, but sometimes I do it.
Anywho, I guess that is all for now. I am headed out to chase down more high school kids. They need to know Jesus! He is in the Business of Changing Lives! I've tried to do it. I can't. But He Can...
Because High School kids are worth it...
OH, below are pics of my newly painted, cleaned and arranged Young Life office! Whatcha think? Taylor and I painted one Friday / Saturday and then I painted the logo when she was out of town last week. And then I rearranged and decorated my office. We are really proud of it! Welcome to my office...
