The past few days flirted with the miraculous.
This picture is from a response time at Malibu at the end of the week where kids can express if they responded to God's invitation to life together in Him. It is always miraculous to see how God draws heart that are far from him to 'come home' to relationship with him.
A highlight this week was having friends Wayne and Georganne Smith from Ellensburg, who are on our Inland NW Regional board, be our adult guest hosts. Our friends Mike and Nancy Schaeffer came too (Everett friends Justin and Kylene's fam.) The Smiths brought some awesome friends with them and we all had incredible times together watching God at work.
My highlight this week was from the kids from the storied 'Jesuit HS' in Portland came. These kids had a strong base of Catholic education and church, yet very little experience in encountering God relationally, face to face. They were refreshed by Kent's talks, having real talk in cabin time, and the 15 minute quiet times we gave them. I shared my 'life journal' with a few of the guys who were incredibly curious to see someone who encounters God regularly. A few of them began to journaling LOT. One of them, David, was praying and journaling on night 5. He wrote a few prayers and prayed that someone would help him figure out what God has next for him. Just then, I cracked the door open to see if everyone was asleep during my night watch. He felt God prompt him to go outside and talk to me and that God would speak through me. God hadn't given me the same 'heads up' that this was coming. I was scurrying around camp at 12:30 looking for a missing Hong Kong female camper and when we found her, i was heading off to bed, determined NOT to get to sleep later then 1:20am like the past few nights. As I walked by 'crossroads' at 12:45am, David was sitting there. He said 'God told me to sit here and that you'd come to talk to me.' I played the cool card and just sat down. I told him I had no idea what God wanted to say to him, but agreed to try to listen to God as we talked. He shared about being from a long line of highly accomplished leaders. His grandfather was a captain in the Army, his dad was a high caliber leader. He felt pressured and always called upon to lead and faked his way through the roles that seem to be thrusted upon him. Then, some words of clarity jumped to the forefront of my brain. I relayed words I felt were from the Lord. "Be teachable and humble. Surround yourself with transparent leaders and friends you can be REAL with. Fight pride at all costs. Especially spiritual pride. Get a group of friends who are not impressed with you and your leadership roles yet deeply care, and be real. Then the last word I relayed was to 'seek wisdom from God.' Read the book of Proverbs. Read a chapter a day for a month. It is a book full of wisdom, avoiding pride and constantly being teachable. His eyes were as wide as the Malibu pool olympics 'lilly pads.' He opened the journal he had just started and showed me the words 'Talk with Jeff' and 'Seek wisdom from God.' Then my eyes got big. Why was I feeling surprised that God orchestrated this conversation?
The next day leaders and students from Jesuit HS kept telling me that David was visibly changed, and wondered how I 'did that.' I just listened and relayed a few words! That last night, I joined the the Jesuit HS group of 50 students in their area 'say so' where they shared what happened that week with God. It was humbling, amazing, and (shouldn't have been) shocking as to how powerfully God got a hold of many of these kids' lives. They discovered how RELATIONAL God is and it finally clicked with their knowledge ABOUT God they'd already had. Such a joy to see young Catholic kids connect what they 'know' with what they can experience with God.
As I exchanged info with David, I said 'I want to shake hands with your dad. Sounds like a great guy.' Two leaders pulled me aside and asked me if I knew who his dad was. I didn't. They said he is one of the more influential men in Portland. He was about to become the next CFO of Nike, but stepped away from Nike to be the President of Jesuit schools. They continued that they had been praying for God to open doors for YL leaders at this school that is historically 'closed' to leaders. With David's experience, who knows, the door may be more open than ever because God is at work in touching a family. Who knew? If I could summarize for us all what I think God could teach us from this..."just listen, and 'just do it.'
WestSnoCo YL is here this week. Praying for more miraculous, world changing moments! Not just for me, but for leaders, our team, families, and YOU too! -jeff-
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