We did something different tonight. Instead of our usual small groups at YL, we paired up leaders and invited kids to be part of a mixed gender small group. My girls were lucky to be joined by Senior guys Max, Brock and Chad. I'm used to spending Wyld Life leader meetings with them and was excited to have their perspective tonight.
I love our whole YL family but was excited to talk with Lauren, Hannah, Erin, Shaia, Hannah, Genna, Abby, Chloe, Julia, Nat Rat, Mad Cav and Cassidy tonight.
There is a story in Mark about when Jesus was in the thick of his ministry. People had heard of him and his miracles and they desperately wanted him to fix their own hurts. The story starts with a father named Jairus that came to him so he would heal his daughter. The little girl was close to death and their last hope was Jesus.
On his way there, he was touched by a woman in the middle of a huge crowd. Even though many people were probably bumping up against him, he sensed the power leaving him when she touched his cloak. This woman had been bleeding for 12 years. 12 YEARS. She needed Jesus to fix her affliction. He stopped in the middle of the chaos to find her, listened to her whole story and told her that it was her faith that healed her.
Finally Jesus made it to the house of Jairus only to find that the girl had died. Even though it was unclean, even though the crowd was laughing at him, Jesus went inside. He went to the little girl and told her to get up. This 12-year-old girl that had just been dead, rose up and started walking around the house. Once again, her faith healed her.
Tonight we talked about patience. About the kind of patience the bleeding woman had for the last 12 years. The patience of the father who urgently wanted Jesus to heal his daughter. The patience of the little girl who died and then came back to life.
We talked about whether patience is something we're born with or something we develop. What can we learn about patience since we know it's a fruit of the spirit? Why does God care about developing our patience?
Today my sister emailed, "We have played 'hide and seek' approximately 2,456,782 times this morning which means that Lincoln hides right in front of your face and then yells, "Come find me!" He told me he was going to hide under his covers and I told him, "Lincoln, you just told me that you would be under your covers. That's not hiding because I will know where you are." He replied- while pulling the covers over his head, leaving the rest of his body out- "Well I won't tell you again!"
I asked if she'd tried the hiding role yet and she said, "Yes, but they won't actually come find anyone else. Linc and Red just hang around the bottom of the stars yelling, "Where are woo?!"
Patience is not something Lincoln was born with. Katie and Nick are teaching him to be patient little by little--from playing hide and go seek to being patient when he wants more chocolate milk in his cup.
I'm still working on patience too. Trusting God's timing over my own. Being patient with finding out about CILT Pack counselors, DC staff and so many other things that are a mystery right now. I've got a friend that's patiently waiting for a job change at work. Another friend who is trying to be patient as the doctors heal her ACL injury so she can get back to playing a sport that she loves. There's always something to be patient about right?
I know that God is more concerned with our character than our comfort. Learning to be patient will absolutely refine our character.
What are you learning about patience lately?
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