I'm With You

On Wednesday mornings, a group of senior girls come over before school (if we can all wake up). It's something that I look forward to every week. Getting out of bed for it is tough, but once girls start to walk through my front door, I have no regret for waking up early. We call it Mugs and Muffins (M&Ms); we always have mugs... The muffins get swapped out for other things like French Toast.

I Love sitting and watching the girls pour their coffee (lots of sugar and cream of course) and listening to them talk about what they have that day, the teacher that is being really annoying right now, the senioritis that is so real to them right now, as well as the pain that they are experiencing in their lives. I really consider it a privilege to be able to be a part of that.

This semester we have decided to read Love Does, by Bob Goff. It's definitely one of my favorite books and I think it will quickly be theirs as well. This morning we went over the intro and chapter 1 (we definitely could've used more than an hour to talk about everything.)

Chapter 1 in Love Does never ceases to make me cry. This is the 4th time I've read just this chapter, and this is the 4th time I've had to set the book down and go get a kleenex.
If you aren't familiar with the book, Bob starts the book off by talking about his Young Life leader in high school. A Young Life leader and staff person that I would say is who I strive to be.

This morning I asked the girls what they thought, and as I listened to them talk about the chapter, I had to keep myself from going to grab another tissue. As the girls started to talk about this idea of 'I'm With You,' they talked about me and how they have seen that in me.

"I used to want to fix people, but now I just want to be with them." My hope in life is that people wouldn't seem like a project to me. My hope is that every high schooler I come into contact with wouldn't just be something for me to fix. My hope is that when I show up in the lives of kids, I'm there just because I actually want to be with them... not because I have an agenda... not because I feel like I can offer them so much... not because they are just another project to me. But because I genuinely love them and want to listen to them and most importantly I want to be 'With Them.'

In the book you find out that Randy, Bob's YL leader, had just gotten married and literally left his new bride to go on a trip with Bob because he was 'With' Bob. Bob doesn't know that Randy got married until they return from the trip. This morning when we were talking about this I realized that's what I want. I want to be able to always say that I'm With You. And I want whoever my husband my be, to be someone that desires that as well. That we can understand sometimes the sacrifice and with-ness that we offer HS kids is a calling that Christ has placed on each of our lives.

"He didn't just say he was for me or with me. He was actually present with me." (pg.8)
May we all learn what it means to be present with people as we continue along this Journey with Jesus.