Church was… a truly blessed experience today…
I don’t know how many of you know this… but I teach Sunday School for High School boys. I also write Bible Study Lessons for Junior & Senior High School, and I teach the Bible Study Lessons to the other teachers. And every now and then… I also get to deliver a sermon…
This weekend was my turn to deliver a sermon…
From the moment I woke up… I knew today was going to be special…
When I got to church, I was early… and as I sat around with a few of the students and one of the Sunday School Teachers… we started talking about Medical stuff. It’s funny, because as much as I gripe about school… the bottom line is that I think the stuff I’m learning is so cool. And when I think about all of the things I’ve had a chance to see and all of the things I know I’m going to get to do… I start beaming from ear to ear. And as I talked, more and more people came in… and more and more people had questions they wanted to ask me… and I felt the accumulation of all of my years of work and schooling, just flowing from my mouth… and it was exciting. And I knew that I was ready to do God’s work today.
After the adult service, I walked through the Children’s Hall for my obligatory round of hugs from the elementary school kids. There are no words to describe the feeling of walking into a room and having a bunch of kids 4 to 12 come running up to you in excitement and wanting a hug. There weren’t many kids today… but one of them… Henry… came running up into my arms… and just rested his head on my shoulder… when another kid came up and tried to take his place… they kind of sniped at each other and Henry got kind of kicked… Henry is a pretty rough and tumble sort of kid, so I was surprised when he started crying. So I picked him up and he nestled into my neck and just held on. And as I stroked his head… I felt his love… and I felt my love pouring out to him… And I kissed him on his head… It was the best 5 minutes I could have spent that morning… And when it was time to go… I whispered to him, I had to go, and I whispered that he was going to be okay. And then I set him down, gave him a big hug… and kissed him on the head again… And he nodded and went to play.
My Sunday School boys… they blew me away. My boys aren’t always easy to handle. They all have some form of ADHD. They are kind of rough and crass at times. But I always know that they have a good heart. I have been trying to get them to do their Quiet Time... and it has been a struggle at times. But when I came in… I found out that 3 of them had done their Quiet Time… 1 of them… actually did it 4 different days. I was stunned. My most difficult kid, Michael… is also I think the smartest… but the hyperactivity component of his ADHD is off the charts sometimes… In the past, when we had talked about Quiet Time, he told me that all he had was a King James Version and he found it hard to read. He recently had a birthday… and I decided that for his birthday… I would give him the Student Bible I had bought for myself this summer. It cost a bit of money when I bought it… but the thought of giving him a chance to really embrace his growing sense of being a Christian, outweighed any need that I had for it. I still have another Bible to use… I can always use the internet as well… So I pulled him aside and I opened up the dedication page of the Bible and I signed it over to him. He hugged me and said he would keep it forever. It doesn’t much matter to me if he is able to keep it forever or not. It was his reaction that meant so much to me. Then during Bible Study, they all were as focused on the lesson as I have ever seen them… and we had a kid who had come once before, come again… and afterwards he told me he was planning on coming back every Sunday now and wanted a form for the Winter Retreat. And I couldn’t believe what a great day I was having.
Then… it was the Youth Group WorshipService... time for me to speak… And from the minute I got up… I knew that the whole day… was building me up for this. I talked about some of my Peds Onc kids today. It’s a topic that’s so near and dear to my heart. I had written a full sermon. But the truth is… I didn’t need it. My message came pouring out from my heart. Because I wanted to talk about their lives… and how much these kids taught me about truly living a thankful life.
And as I looked out at our Youth Group… I saw faces that were laughing along with the funny moments I shared with them. I found them falling in love with these kids in the same way that I did…
And when I talked about their passing… When I talked about their last moments… and the love that these beautiful kids shared with everyone around them… even as they were dying… I saw our Youth Group… crying with me… And I realized further… that their tears weren’t just about the sadness surrounding the kids I talked about… their tears were also about the pain and sadness in their lives… their tears were about wanting to be thankful in all circumstances… but knowing that it was hard because their lives are painful right now…
Afterwards, I found one of the kids in particular… and I shared a special hug with her… and I felt her pouring her tears into me… and I was so thankful… that God chose to use me in this way… today… and I recognized the parallel… with what happened with Henry in the morning… with what happened with Michael during Bible Study… with the experiences I had with my Peds Onc kids… and I saw clearer than ever… the path God has chosen for me… and my reason for being on this earth…
We all have a calling. We all have a purpose. I am so grateful… to have the privilege and blessing… to be called to care for the kids I meet… in whatever manner they may need it.
Today… was a good day.
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