An unusual Thursday.

Last week I had a unique Thursday. I was on the tail end of orchestrating a Children's Ministry Summer Splash camp. Crazy hair day, jumping along to worship songs, and bouts of laughter flowing over the field during squirt gun fights are a few snapshots of our camp. But Thursday was a different day. Thursday morning we shared the Gospel message with the 470 kids present at the camp from ages 4 to 11. 49 of them that day started their journey with Jesus Christ. 21 re-committed their young lives to Him. Praise God! But as I looked out over the sea of 4 & 5 year old faces I saw pure innocence and joy at the beginning stages of life. Life had just begun for these kiddos. Bright futures of summers spent at the beach, falls filled with football, and springs filled with graduations. The boys and girls in front of me were so young.

During snack time that morning, a boy pushed a little girl. She got upset and yelled, "hey!!". About two foot steps later they were holding hands and giggling over shared secrets. Their age is beautiful because grievances are short, pain is generally remote, and life is simple. I cherished every minute of teaching the 100 or so 4 &5's their memory verse and camp song they would perform at the end of the week for their parents. And let me tell Friday afternoon as all 470 kids shared with their parents in a grand performance, God was smiling through and over each child there. A tear-bringing picture of "but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14.

Thursday afternoon was different than the morning. I attended a funeral for my brother-in-law's father. He passed away recently after a long fight with cancer. He was only 62, and last year my sister and her husband, Jimmy, had just given birth to his first grandchild. Much of his life had been cut short for reasons unknown to us but trustworthy in the One who numbered his days.

As I walked into the church building where the ceremony was held, I couldn't help but analyze/compare the two ends of the spectrum of life I encountered. New life was given to 49 kids that morning, and that evening I celebrated the end of 1 life well lived. Jimmy's father, Chip, was an incredible man who lived a simple life leading to a significant impact on numerous lives. He was a family man raising two kids and loving one amazing woman. He taught at a high school, and spent years of weekends and weeknights coaching football and women's volleyball. As the seats and rows around me filled with people I'd never met, the clarity of the difference one life makes was evident.

I heard crying and laughing, I saw young children toddling around the feet of their parents. Previous teams he had coached sported homemade shirts remembering Chip with the year the player played on the back. There were players back from 1999. High school players. That is one unique and influential coach to leave a legacy where men and women would come to celebrate and remember him so many years later. It was a hard but special day.

We have one life to live. Some will live longer than others. But we all have 1 life to live and 1 life to give in whatever manner we see fit. Chip invested in his family, his school, students and players he coached. His mark was deeply left on the hearts of those he encountered. And those kids will never be the same because of the love and care they were shown from this man.

 I'm not sure about you, but I hope I go out the same way. I'm only 24 right now. Who knows how many more years or days I will live out here on earth. But I know how I want those days to be marked. I want them to marked by God's redemptive grace abounding in love for His people.

"but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water tha yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers" -Ps. 1:2-3

"If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather be openhanded and freely lend them  whatever they need" -Deut. 15:7-8

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts ofyour house and on your gates" - Deut. 6:5-9

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’


These are just a few passages from a book that is life-giving- the Bible. It tells me where my identity is and how to live a life that will be used to affect others as Chip found with his life. I've never been more convinced than I am now how my life and the way I choose to live it WILL have an eternal impact on those around me. Because I associate myself with Christ, how I live will play a role in the lives of those who haven't picked up the Bible or don't know about his sacrifice and love. And it's the exact reason I find value in my job- training up 4 & 5 year olds in the way they should go so that at the beginning of life they see the purpose in their own life and the signficiance it holds whether grace or damnation is chosen. It may be harsh, but when you are sitting in the pew for a person who is no longer physically present- there is no time for fluff. Chip asked for his service to be focused on the truth. He got it- he knew he had a choice to make and his life reflected his choice. I hope you all have or do chose God's grace and atonement for your sins. And I hope someday when my life has come to pass, my life reflected my choice to be washed in the blood of Jesus.