Today begins week 2 of advent. Peace. When I think of peace, the first thing that comes to my mind is forgiveness. There is a peace that comes with forgiveness. So, when I thought of what to discuss tonight at youth, I decided to discuss forgiving others. It became obvious that I could spend a lot longer than 1 day at youth group discussing this topic. I probably should. But, for now, I had only 1 chance. So, I had to make the best of it and pull out the best things I could find. Unfortunately, I still didn't have enough time to do it all.
But, the reason I ran out of time was because we had some really great conversations. I used the same material for middle school and high school. But, I had totally different discussions. I love listening to teens and seeing how their minds work. I showed a video and my high schoolers looked at it in a completely different way than I did. I realized that it spoke to everyone differently because they felt differently and had different ways to react than I did. I started the evening with asking everyone to find and hold a random object. They had to hold onto it throughout the evening. At the end, I explained how it symbolized how we hold on to anger and how even if it starts out as not a big deal, it continues to feel like a bigger hardship. Then, I asked them to share how their random object could symbolize anger. They all had great responses. It was so insightful.
Possibly, after youth group was even more awesome. One of my newer youth was struggling with a conflict with several other youth. A few days ago, she was considering not coming back because of it. Tonight, after youth group she went and talked to the ones she was having a conflict with and they resolved it. She felt tonight that she needed to apologize and clear things up and the others showed understanding and forgiveness. As I took her home tonight, the girl who apologized told me through her tears how happy and relieved she was. She talked about a weight being lifted off of her. It was exactly what I had been trying to get across tonight without using those words.
Another youth asked me after youth if I remembered a trip we took 2 years ago. I told him I did. He then asked if I remembered him sitting outside for 10 minutes or so. Unfortunately, I had to tell him I couldn't remember that. He said he was out there because he had been mad at me. I asked why and he said he didn't know but after those 10 minutes he wasn't mad- just sad. I asked why and he said it was the same reason. As it turns out, he spent 10 minutes of his life mad at me because he thought I didn't care about him and then a short time after he was sad about that. He can't remember why he felt that way, but luckily, he quickly realized that I did and do love and care about him. This teen rarely shares anything or shows much emotion at all. The fact that he offered that information without being prodded was interesting and obviously something tonight led him to share that with me. If anyone was hard to get used to me as their youth leader, it was him. So, sharing how the thought of me not caring had impacted him was his way of sharing something personal with me. And, I was glad that he quickly realized how untrue his thoughts were and he was then confident that he was loved and cared for.
Overall, tonight was a great night and I feel that tonight's topic really clicked with the youth and the adults.
So, where was God today? He was at youth group tonight and He was opening hearts and minds to love and forgive.
Matthew 6:14 (NIV)
Blessings,
Jennifer
But, the reason I ran out of time was because we had some really great conversations. I used the same material for middle school and high school. But, I had totally different discussions. I love listening to teens and seeing how their minds work. I showed a video and my high schoolers looked at it in a completely different way than I did. I realized that it spoke to everyone differently because they felt differently and had different ways to react than I did. I started the evening with asking everyone to find and hold a random object. They had to hold onto it throughout the evening. At the end, I explained how it symbolized how we hold on to anger and how even if it starts out as not a big deal, it continues to feel like a bigger hardship. Then, I asked them to share how their random object could symbolize anger. They all had great responses. It was so insightful.
Possibly, after youth group was even more awesome. One of my newer youth was struggling with a conflict with several other youth. A few days ago, she was considering not coming back because of it. Tonight, after youth group she went and talked to the ones she was having a conflict with and they resolved it. She felt tonight that she needed to apologize and clear things up and the others showed understanding and forgiveness. As I took her home tonight, the girl who apologized told me through her tears how happy and relieved she was. She talked about a weight being lifted off of her. It was exactly what I had been trying to get across tonight without using those words.
Another youth asked me after youth if I remembered a trip we took 2 years ago. I told him I did. He then asked if I remembered him sitting outside for 10 minutes or so. Unfortunately, I had to tell him I couldn't remember that. He said he was out there because he had been mad at me. I asked why and he said he didn't know but after those 10 minutes he wasn't mad- just sad. I asked why and he said it was the same reason. As it turns out, he spent 10 minutes of his life mad at me because he thought I didn't care about him and then a short time after he was sad about that. He can't remember why he felt that way, but luckily, he quickly realized that I did and do love and care about him. This teen rarely shares anything or shows much emotion at all. The fact that he offered that information without being prodded was interesting and obviously something tonight led him to share that with me. If anyone was hard to get used to me as their youth leader, it was him. So, sharing how the thought of me not caring had impacted him was his way of sharing something personal with me. And, I was glad that he quickly realized how untrue his thoughts were and he was then confident that he was loved and cared for.
Overall, tonight was a great night and I feel that tonight's topic really clicked with the youth and the adults.
So, where was God today? He was at youth group tonight and He was opening hearts and minds to love and forgive.
Matthew 6:14 (NIV)
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Blessings,
Jennifer
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