(Am I old, or what??? I just used the term "young people." I might as well start drinking Metamucil at night and talking about the corns on my feet to complete strangers.)
This weekend, my husband and I had the privilege of attending the University of Arkansas (Pig Sooie!) graduation of a dear friend. Now, I realize all graduations are joyous events, but this one was special. This one was monumental, shout it from the rooftops, CRAZY EXCITING. His is not my story to tell at this time...but maybe someday soon I can ask his permission. Because his story is blow-you-away cool. And inspiring. Every time we talk about how far he's come, I get goosebumps.
As Dave and I, and our friend's parents, sat through the reading of 1,200 names (oh yes there were!), and making fools of ourselves SCREAMING OUT the one name that made us grin from ear to ear, I couldn't help but wonder... Does anyone else in that sea of black robes and tasseled hats have a story like our friend's? Surely there are other dramatic stories of achievement, of beating the overwhelming odds. And surely there were hundreds, if not thousands of others yesterday, grinning and hollering just like us--every bit as proud as we were in that moment.
And after, hugging that (too) skinny and good-looking boy--who is really a man, especially after all he's proven--I thought to myself,
"Working with young people every summer is a lot like being a mama to 15 college kids every summer."
The Razorback graduate worked for us several summers ago, and yet there we were yesterday--sitting in the stands cheering for him. We don't always get to sit through our "summer kids'" graduations or weddings, but we always know about them, and cheer for them regardless of where we are.
We've gotten to see our summer kids do some pretty amazing things. Some have been the first in their families to attend college. Some have graduated with honors...and some are honored just to graduate! *grin* They've joined the military to fight for our nation's freedom. One young girl (well, she was young with us), has become a Marine, and is fighting the bad guys across the world. (She's a Marine!) One has faced a brain tumor and blindness with an attitude that astounds me and inspires me to be better. They have married their Prince Charmings and Cinderellas. They have become fathers and mothers. And thanks to Facebook--we get to watch their precious babies grow up!
However, there's always another side, isn't there? Those of you who work with young people especially know this. When you work with as many people as we have over the past 20+ years, you have to know the odds are there, just waiting to strike. Those odds that should have prepared us for staff that would land in jail, breaking our hearts all over again. That one guy, still in high school when he worked with us--we could just see the ominous signs of his future. We pleaded, we drew stricter boundaries, we prayed, we talked and talked and talked...and yet, still he made those choices that landed him in prison. And again, the Facebook pages and pictures that don't lie when some of our summer kids are straying away from the narrow road. Like their real parents, we reach out, we pray, we talk, and we watch, with a terrible feeling in our stomaches, as a story of bad choices unfolds.
And just like a real mama, my heart is broken over and over again.
That's why yesterday's graduation was so significant. Yesterday represented hope. Yesterday's graduation was a true victory. And not a victory that had anything to do with us. Yesterday's victory was about a loving God rescuing a young man. Yesterday was about redemption.
I mean--don't you just LOVE those words--"loving God," "rescue," and "redemption"? Those words make me want to shout, just like I did at yesterday's graduation!!
Over the past 20 years of working with young people, every time I've gotten to witness a story of redemption, I am bowled-over speechless, and grinning, and wiping away tears of pride and joy. In those moments, I think about the God I worship, who reached down and DID the redeeming. Who IS the redemption story. And who will continue to redeem, until ALL have a chance to follow.
I sure am glad I'm not just a summer kid of His, but a year-round, eternal kid. How about you?
As we are about to enter another summer, I have to wonder...what stories will we see play out this year?
And like a good summer mama, I always have high hopes...
What are some great redemption stories you've gotten to witness?
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. I John 3:16
