Thursday, February 10, 2011

Love Out Loud

By the time most of you are reading this Kayla and I will be spending hours upon hours with 14 and 15 year old girls... who have crushes and worry about what to wear and if their hair looks okay and who their bff is.

Oh wait... that's Kayla and I.

Just kidding.

It's been a while since I've been 14 or 15 so they may not even care what they wear or what their hair looks like at that age. But i'm sure they do want a bff and they quite possibly have a crush. or two. or three.

No, really.

This weekend we get the privilege to be the hands and feet of Jesus as we love some girls by spending time with them at D-Now. We are really excited and know that it's not a coincidence that we are here doing this with these specific girls.

The topic is one of my favorites (you've heard me speak on it many times over the past year and a half) - love. More specifically what real love is... and then, how to live in that love. out loud.

If you happen to read this before the weekend actually begins or at any point during the weekend, say a little prayer for us.... not just Kay and I, but the girls in our group. We know that we as human beings don't have much to offer, but we do have Christ in us and the testimony's that He has given us to share.

Since we will be spending a lot of time discussing love this weekend, I tried to think of different ways to start each of our sessions. For the "attention-getter" for our first session I got my little first graders (six to seven year olds) to write on the prompt - What is love?

Here are their innocent thoughts that are clearly shaped by their environment.

Love is good thangs. Love is deep in your heart. Everyone in heaven is in your heart.
Love is how you feel about a person. If you love a person you will not cheat on them.
Love is like holding hands. Love is when you are leaning on someone. When someone likes you.
Love is when you like someone so much you would do anything for them.
It means you love them with all your heart. And it means you care.
My neighbor is love to me.
Love is getting married and having kids. Love is taking care of each other. Love is living with each other.
Love means helping, family, and friends.
Love is a double heart. (alrighty?)
When you don't hate anybody.
Love is neighbor, family, friends, helping people, relationships, and getting married.

Lord, be with Kayla and I as we go into this weekend. We as mere humans don't have much to offer, but we open our mouths and ask that You fill them with the specific words that You want each of these girls to hear. I ask that they might know possibly for the first time just how deep and true and constant Your love is for them. Be our confidence as we carry out the sessions and just exactly what activities we should do. We trust that You are in control of this whole weekend and that nothing will be a surprise to You. We are expecting to receive quite possibly more than we give over these next few days! We love You and are so thankful for You! In the specific name of Jesus Christ.

No comments: