Lost Canyon 2012: 7

Day Fifteen

July 22nd, 2012

NEW LIFE

Yesterday, our week of teen moms ended.  Young Lives week was a whirlwind.  There were several highlights for me...

1.  New Lives.  Yesterday, there were many teens who stood up and declared that this week changed everything.  It was the week they came to know the TRUTH.  Jesus was theirs and their life would never be the same.  The reason, I say New LIVES is because what this declaration means is that every baby that calls that teen "mommy" also gets a totally new life.  Love it!

2.  Raising up Men.  We gather all the boys at camp at the beginning of every Young Lives week and discuss some points of concern for the week.  The coolest part is that every man who is married stands up front and shares some advice regarding marriage.  I have never had this happen before (and this is the 4th time I've done this) but 5 guys individually asked "This was great... can we do this again?  I want to bring my journal."

REALLY?  Ummm... Absolutely!   We spent 3 hours during the middle of the week answering questions from nearly 60 boys about marriage, sex, pornography, lust, following Christ, dating, love.  It was incredible!  It also led to several other conversations with leaders in my Young Life area back home about the same issues.  

3.  Ellie's friends.  My daughter, who is 2.5, has friends who live across the street.  These two girls are awesome and they play well... but we don't see them everyday.  Up here, she gets to play with 5 girls her age everyday and is really starting to understand FRIENDS, SHARING, LOVE from outside her family.  I am thankful for this.

Above all of this, I am hearing the Lord whisper to me... "I love you.  I want you.  I have GREAT things for you.  Lean in to me.  Lean in to your struggle and pain."  I will explain more about that in a later blog post...

Praise God.  Today.  Right now.  Praise God.  He loves you and wants you.