we love it.
everything about it.
well...almost everything. ha!
what you may not know is what an average day looks like.
mondays we come in early and open the center up to anyone who wants to come and pray for the teens. we pray individually for the kids... by name and pray that we will be able to show the love of Christ to them.
we pray that they will be making wise choices at school, and will be showing honor to their parents.
we pray for their protection and that they would be choosing their friends wisely.
we pray that they will be able to take a stand and be willing to be stand alone when the rest of their friends are smoking pot, and sleeping around. (pretty much an accurate description of what is going on, sadly.)
the doors open at 2:30 when they either walk here from school, or get dropped off on the bus.
they run in and go straight for the snacks.
you never really know if it's going to be an easy day, or if the kids are going to be wound.
many times we get comments like...
give me more snacks.
i don't like the food you have out
do you have anything better to drink?
sometimes we get a thank you here and a thank you there.
a lot of times we hear cursing from the second the doors are open.
(which they know is not allowed in here)
sometimes we hear bullying taking place and we have to get involved.
sometimes we have to tell them to stop throwing things at the window.
sometimes we play a million games of pool, ping-pong or fooseball with them
(i always win. right grant? haha!)
sometimes we have parents thank us for what we are doing.
sometimes we have parents ask us why we are allowing "our kids" to run around outside on the main street.
we spend 2 hours giving to the kids.
talking if they want to talk, leaving them alone if they want to be left alone.
we play games and we clean up a lot.
we give advice when they will listen.
then we close it down, and do it again on wednesday. then friday.
no matter what the day looks like, we have one thing that keeps us going.
we believe that every person deserves one person who really cares about them.
we believe ultimately that Jesus is what they need, and that the principles from the Bible will give them guidelines to help them succeed immensely in life.
we don't ever try to hide that.
but we believe that sometimes God uses us to be that one person.
i love it.
i genuinely care about every single kid that comes in.
some days we have 25 middle school boys running all over the place.
i love it.
some days i clean up soda spills 10 times.
i love it.
some days i say "stop cursing" 50 times...to the same boy!! (you know who you are!!)
i love...getting to be a part of his life :)
some days i talk girl-talk with the few girls who are brave enough to come and hang with all the boys!
i love it.
i hope that maybe i can be that one person...for even just one person.
maybe i'll never get thanked for it.
that's ok.
maybe they won't even realize that the fact they have the stability of me and adam in their lives every week is even affecting them.
that's ok too.
we keep praying.
we keep loving.
we keep cleaning.
and we keep doing what God has called us to do.
i would do anything for these kids.
i get defensive of them.
when someone complains because the boys are running around and being too rowdy?
i get all crazy and feel like...don't you be messing with my boys!!
they need us!
they need us to show them that they are important.
they have value.
their actions do matter.
see....if you treat them like they don't matter? you are kind of saying that their actions don't matter either.
and that is kind of a big deal.
my challenge to you:
who is in your life right now that might need you to be that one person?
do it!
and maybe you love the idea of a youth center, but just don't have the time to be a part of the volunteer staff.
we are always looking for donors!
everything we offer is free.
we depend on people like you to see a need, and be the answer.
we are only at 80% support right now and would be honored if you would join the team with us!
together, we can all make a difference.
one person at a time.
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