Floating By

This past weekend I got off work and went with some friends to float down a river in an inner tube.  It was so much fun! Now, the sunburn that I have now isn't that fun, but oh well.  There were about 9 of us that went.  We had a girls car and a guys car.  It was interesting!  On the way there and back was great conversation! I'll talk about that more later!

We got there fearful of the weather because it had rained earlier that morning and was cloudy the whole trip. By the time we got out of the van from a very fast and curvy ride to the river spot, the clouds were separating an the sun was out! It ended up being a very nice, hot day! The cold water is just what the doctor ordered for the sunny day! So relaxing! No cell phones, no computers, no tv's, just us, floating down a river and enjoying life.  It was great!

On the way back (we were in Missouri) we stopped by Lambert's! Home of the throwed rolls! So, we stuffed ourselves and brought home most of the food for lunch the next day! What? With all the "pass-arounds" we didn't have room in our tummies for the actual meal!!

On the way home we had another round of great conversation, which is the point of this blog today.  To share what we discussed.

Being on fire for God is such a great feeling.  Being overwhelmed with the holy spirit to where you can't contain your excitement is where it's at! I wish I was at the point 24/7!!  What we talked about is How do we motivate others to do the right thing when the wrong thing feels so good?

Youth Ministry is HARD!!!!!  I never knew until the past year or so! MOST, not all, teens today (and I'm referring to christian teens) love sex. They love drinking. They love drugs. Mostly? They love feeling accepted and wanted.  If they don't, they want to kill themselves. They feel if they don't do all that stuff, then they are missing out on something, or they will disappoint someone.  Disappoint a friend who wanted to get high with them, disappoint a significant other who wanted to experience the "act of love" with them.  I could go on.

For me, it's a choice to not do those things because it's wrong. God commands us to live a holy life. Am I perfect? Heck no. Do I mess up? Of course.  But how do you motivate others to do the right thing when they have 50 others telling them the wrong thing isn't that bad or isn't that wrong?

It's hard, but God understands. He's there to direct you on how to help others. Caring is the first way you can help.  From there, God will turn you in the directions you need to go to make the difference He wants you to make. Be submissive. Be the example. Be Christ-like.