Senseless and Tragic

This last week our town lost three teenagers all on the same day. One girl lost her life to a six month battle with leukemia, she was sixteen. The other two deaths were because of a drug overdose, the boys were a sophomore and the other a senior in high school. Because of God allowing us (mainly Walter) to do Jr high ministry at church, we knew the girl and we knew the brother of one of the boys. It hits close to home but maybe, just maybe we made a impact in their lives.

My memory of the young lady, Zara, will be her gentle spirit. She was physically beautiful, but more than anything there was away about her that was gentle and sweet. She first came with us to winter camp. I don't think Ben was a year yet. She asked to hold him and she was so gentle and he enjoyed playing with her. She always had a smile and I remember even then saying that I want to have a daughter who has the kind of character that I saw in Zara.

I don't know the two young men. My heart goes out to their mothers. What a senseless way to loose a child. It makes me want to hug my children all that much closer.

This whole thing has made me rethink our involvement in youth ministry. Maybe, just maybe, we are making a difference in some of these kids lives. It a hard ministry, you never really know if you are making a difference. Are kids there because they want to learn about God or is it because they want to have fun. The balance of doing both is a delicate one. The conclusion I came to is that we need to continue - we have a message that the world needs to hear and God has given Walter the passion and desire to serve. Maybe I need to get out of his way more and let him do that.

The other conclusion I came to is that I will love my own children as long as they are God's gift to me. I will hug them tighter and play with them more, so that if the Lord chooses to take them or me before I'm ready to have that happen, we will have sweet, sweet memories to hold on to.