Boys to Men

Where do I start? Last week I was food staff for a YMCA trip here at the ranch. That means that Thom and I cooked the food for the students and put up the tents and all of that kind of jazz. It was a fun trip, but very tiring. Thom and I were both working with the students on their rock climbing day as well as shuttle driving for the rafting day. That left us with very little time to sit down. The students were challenging to say the least. They came from a lot of broken families and just have hard lives. We did what we could to show them that we cared about them personally and really wanted to know about them. Some of them were definitely searching for something and were asking some great questions about Christ. I can only pray that our staff here was able to plant a seed in these kids and be an example of Jesus to them.

Yesterday I was a rock assistant with 10 boy scouts. This was an interesting group to work with. The scouts were young and you could tell that they were used to only doing things that were comfortable to them. They were scared to take a risk and be brave. Immediately the book "Wild At Heart" came to mind as it talks about how there is something in each man and boy that desires to be wild, bold, courageous and how that is often hampered by others. It was really hard for me when one of the kids got to a difficult place in the climb and didn't see his next move and decided he was done. He told us to let him down and I just told him no, and that he needed to work at it and take a chance at falling. There were others stories just like this during the trip as well. Another rock assistant told a student that wanted to quit that he needed to push himself. If he never learned to push himself he would only do what was comfortable and never be able to stick up for what he wanted to do.

It was an emotionally draining day for me. I just want so badly for those guys to be brave and wild. To take those steps towards becoming a man. Not towards become a "safe" person. I want them to realize that they are warriors and that God has great things set out for them.

If the last two paragraphs were confusing, I'm sorry. There is so much buzzing through my head about those guys and I think that passion for them to live out fully what God has made them to be may have been a little confusing.

Anywho, I have a wide range of prayer requests today, and I think I'm in a list mood today.

Pray for...

...boys to grow into what God has created them to be and shy away from what is comfortable.

...my words and actions to make a difference in kids lives.

...all of the YDA Washington Summer Staff to have energy, to be real, and be ministers of Christ.

...safety on trips.

...my girlfriend, Alana, as she has intense pain across her shoulders, in her neck, shooting down her arm, and numbness in some fingers. That God would bring healing upon her.

...the hearts of students that are coming on a trip this summer to be opened to Christ and His love.

...students following Christ to stick to that faith and not waver. To live above the pressure to be worldly.

There is so much to pray for. Broken families, families hit by our economic situation, all of us to live for Jesus and be more like Him, to understand what it really means to live like Jesus and not be afraid to do that, for my coming trip this week, for all of the other trips going on in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, for God to come and be present, and make His presence known.

Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Joe