Practice Patience. A sign posted in the kitchen as a reminder to grandma, who didn't really need reminding of many things, noted in yearly birthday cards and recollection of my favorite athlete and what books I was reading in grade school. But a small play on my grandmother's reminder has greatly changed the outlook I have for practice. Practice patiently?
45 minutes of straight talking. The conversation in the vans packed with students following the most recent trip to the Fargo abortion clinic was unreal. Students were processing their motivation and new found excitement regarding the abortion issue. Commenting on population decline that matches the moral decline, students were waking-up to an issue that is plaguing their generation and the sustainability of our nation. They were opposing the common thread of silence on this issue, silence being a repeated phrase numerous times in the 45 minute trip.
You Lost Me was reintroduced to me at a recent round-table education seminar. The seminar, hosted by Summit Ministries, was a review session for Summit Ministries, the publisher of the Understanding the Times and Lightbearers curriculum. The review time was an invitation to schools Summit believes are teaching worldview in impactful and innovative ways.
I was one of those youth workers who employed Rob Bell and Donald Miller in a effort to connect my students to Christ. Seasons of "eye-candy Christianity" gave way to a shallow "feel good" experience. A lack of Biblical integrity in these resources led me to have a "Bell-burning", which left me without a mentorship series. Walking out of Miller's Blue Like Jazz created more despondency as I sought to find a connecting resource to use with my students in addition to the daily Bible presentation in the classrooms and chapel services at Hillcrest.