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05/13/2007: "Mothers Day - The Cost of Youth"
listening to: FM 90.7 -- Andrews University -- Classicalreading: Northern Suns: The New Anthology of Canadian Science Fiction
It’s been a fairly low key Mother’s Day. We were all in bed at a decent time last night, and we managed to get ready for the 8:30 AM service on time. Church service and Sunday School went well. We tried to go to Crackerbarrel for lunch, but the place was packed. There were no parking spots available. None. So, instead of trying to jockey for position at another sit-down restaurant, we opted for the Chinese buffet in Benton Harbor. No lines, no muss, no fuss, get served quickly.
Dylan mowed lawn, Katelyn took a nap, and so Heather and I went to the mall for some maintenance. She had her nails touched up, and I got my hair cut.
We came home and took naps for a while. We watched The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith, and I then made dinner. We had French Fries and chicken strips for two nights in a row! I promise, we will be back to salad and good-for-you food tomorrow.
We are currently watching the season finale of Survivor: Fiji. This is the first time all year I have sat down and watched an episode. Heather has been keeping up, but I have not.
However, I was delighted to see a promo for Big Brother 8, coming up this July. That’s our annual summer guilty pleasure.
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Do you ever stress over the money and effort put into the children’s ministries at church? Do you ever wonder what good it does? When you put years and years of time into serving the youth, and they drop off the face of the earth once they go off to college, does that discourage you?
While I was attending the Akron Church of God in my hometown, we had an annual Kite Day. All of the kids would receive free kites, and we would go off to the Akron Elementary School to fly them. Normally, there would be a huge mess to clean up, and guess who would be stuck with the mess? Yes, the adults who put all the time, effort, and money into it.
One year, when the kids were all gone nad it was up to the adults to clean up, I saw one woman put her hands upon her hips and ask out loud, “Was this worth it?” I was not able to answer that question until after we moved to Georgia, and we started to get involved with the youth at our church in Hoschton.
The answer is yes, it is worth it. Although I cannot give you the name of any of my childhood Sunday School teachers or youth leaders, I know that they had an impact upon my life. Their service had a hand into my acceptance of Jesus Christ. It took me twenty-four years to accept Him, but the task was accomplished. The efforts they put forth have meant something to me and showed me the love of God through them. It would mean so much to me to be able to go back one Sunday and tell them my story. Some of them might not even remember me in their class, but they need to know the fruit of their labor were not lost. I also owe part of my thanks to a Church of God in La Paz, Indiana, that does not even exist anymore! They gave me my first Bible.
So, there are kids that we serve today in Sunday School and Awana and youth group and even the young adult Sunday School class. Some of them will move along in life and forget the Church. Years later, some will find their way back, and maybe not Oakridge because they don’t live in St. Joseph. They may not remember our names, but they will remember the kindness and sacrifices they were shown. We don’t know what will happen to them, but that’s why we do this all on faith.
The next time you are in a business meeting at church, and you are debating the value of your children’s and youth program, you actually have no clue how much value it has. The fruit of your labor – and your money – may not show for years.