On Hand-Holding…

I see it as the preschool students walk through the halls of church, delighting in the fact that it’s their turn to slip their tiny fingers into the slightly larger ones of the teacher.  Or as my “Little Sister” (through Big Brothers Big Sisters) finds a way to juggle the stuff she’s carrying just so she can have an open hand to reach over and grab mine.

There’s just something comforting about hand-holding.  It’s such a simple touch, yet powerful.  As I headed out to run and pray for Sam this morning, I had some Scripture playing through my headphones.  I realized Saturday that 4-miles is along time to stay focused on praying and thought maybe some music or Scripture would help me focus my prayers for beautiful Samantha Love.  Just steps into my run, God started blowing me away with His Word and even now, and hour after returning, His Words are still echoing, bouncing off the walls of my  heart.

Isaiah 43 has especially been on my heart a lot lately, but as I ran this morning, praying for Sam, the words of verse 13 sunk even deeper into my soul:

For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I am the one who helps you.”

As those words played through my headphones, I could just picture God, the One whose hand only verses before was describe as being able to mark off the heavens with its span and hold all the water of the world in the hallow of it (Isaiah 40:12), that same hand was, in that moment reaching down and taking hold of Sam’s hand, of Grace’s hand, reminding them: I’m right here.  I can only imagine the heartache Grace must have felt days ago as she had to let go of that little girl’s hands and fly 5,577 miles away. So as I ran, I prayed for Grace’s heart to be comforted knowing that God is holding her little girl’s hand and will never let her go.

As my feet ran the distance, God’s truth ran deeper in my heart: He holds MY hand, too. 

Right now, in moments when a little comfort would be nice, He’s there saying “Don’t fear, my child, I’m walking with you.”  He’s holding the hand of my brother-in-law who will soon leave the comfort of his home and the joy of holding his daughter and wife’s hands to go to fight for our freedom in this country.  He’s with Elizabeth and Karlie, holding their hands as Kevin is away.  He’s holding the hand of a beautiful friend of mine facing a series of struggles that just don’t ever seem to end.  His fingers interlock with my teammates and the volunteers at church constantly guiding and directing us into His vision and plan.  He holds the hands of the high school students and young adults I interact with each week in these moments of transition and decision in their lives.  He holds the family and friends far away from me whose hands I wish I could hold right now as they walk through trials and joyful celebration and everything in between.

He hold’s our hands.

And there is comfort in His grasp despite anything going on around us.

Empty Hands and An Open Heart

Amen! Let it be so, God! Help me simply come to You…

Come to Me with empty hands and an open heart, ready to receive abundant blessings. I know the depth and breadth of your neediness. Your life-path has been difficult, draining you of strength. Come to Me for nurture. Let Me fill you up with My Presence: I in you, and you in Me.

My Power flows most freely into weak ones aware of their need for Me. Faltering steps of dependence are not lack of faith; they are links to My Presence. ~ Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

Locked Up – Follow Up

Wow!  That’s the word that first comes to mind when I think about the LOCKED UP simulation for high school students at First Trinity yesterday.  For 12 hours, eight students from First Trinity and Grace-Niagara Falls gave up their identities and their rights to get a little taste of what it’s like to live in a country where being a Christian is illegal.

 

After hearing from Marty Doster about his experience in China, the students were processed into the prison and began to experience a VERY small taste of the reality that over 200 million Christians face everyday.  With guards yelling in their face, forcing them to do physical challenges, and mocking Christians any chance they got, the students began soon realized that this wasn’t an ordinary day at youth group.

 

One of my personal favorite moments from the day happened a couple hours into the simulation a few of the students couldn’t resist smiling.  As one of the guards were telling them to smile, they responded that even if they wiped the smile off their face, they’d still be smiling on the inside.  Each in push-up position while the other prisoners answered, they one by one confirmed that they were all indeed smiling on the inside because no matter what they were facing that day, they knew God was with them.

THAT, my friends, is the joy we have as Christians… not happiness that comes and goes with circumstances… but deep rooted joy in a God who loves us and cares for us and is good.

 

While I hope to write more stories throughout the week ahead, I wanted to be sure to share what a couple students posted on their Facebook page (for the whole world to see) as soon as they returned home from LOCKED UP last night.

“Had an amazing experience today… cant even believe christians around the world actually have to go through stuff worse than that everyday.. it was pretty [bad] but im now stronger in faith and in the bond with my “cell” mates.. love you guys and all the christians around the world!”

“I will never be able to fully explain what happened today. all i know i can express to you is that the events of this day have changed me. i, as well as a few other people, got the chance to really see what it’s like for a persecuted Christian in the world today. i feel so connected to God, my youth group, and all of the people throughout the world who are fighting and dying to keep their faith alive. today was really an amazing experience.”

 

Want to find out more about persecuted Christians around the world, or even write a letter to one who needs some encouragement?  Check out Open Doors or ask me for more information.

Thank you for praying for the youth that participated and the persecuted Christians we were thinking of all day.

More pictures of the event can be found on the First Trinity Facebook Page.

Prayers for Friends

A beautiful prayer for our friends and family members. I have some friends for whom I’m praying this today. I bet you have some friends who could use some prayer too.

“Father, when we hear how much You love us, that You’ll always be there, how constant and consistent You are, it’s hard for us to believe. Others have let us down, and we know how flaky we are when we make promises. But when You say,’I'll keep my promises,’ it’s true.

I pray for my friends now. Some of them are praying simple prayers. They need your strength to get through this day, this night, this, challenge. Others are praying difficult prayers–prayers that are so big and so confusing they don’t see how in the world anybody, even You, can work it out. I ask, Father, that now, as they pray, they begin to trust.

I pray that Your Spirit will tell them:
* You’ve heard their prayers.
* You’re already working on it.
* What You’re working on is the absolute best they could ever have.

For my friends who are wounded, I pray for their healing. For my friends who are angry, I pray for release and forgiveness. For my friends that are lost, I pray this will be the moment You find them. For all of us, may this be the moment that You remind us who You are and what we are in You. I pray this in Your name. Amen.
“

Taken from the book “In Real Time” by Mike Glenn

In Awe and in Prayer on a Tuesday Morning…

Students from AT LEAST 10 churches and 22 schools from all over WNY gathered at First Trinity Saturday night to watch a movie that proclaimed the gospel of Jesus and challenged them to make a difference in the lives of people around them.

As I sit here in my office on Tuesday morning, praying for them and wondering what big things God may be doing in and through them, I am truly in awe.

Please join me in praying and keep your eyes open… God’s at work… I just know it!

The Walls that Divide

This afternoon, I found myself thinking about a lot of things.

Mostly… about the walls that often divide us… walls in schools, homes, churches, friendships, and more.

These walls often come from areas of pain in our individual lives.

Following is a musical response I wrote this afternoon… not perfect… recorded only on my computer in my spare bedroom… voice cracking at times due to the cold I think I’m starting to get… but for whatever it’s worth… here’s my prayer that God would begin to restore our lives and as he does so, restore some of the brokenness in our relationships and in our world.

(If you’re reading this in some kind of blog reader, you’ll likely have to go to my actual website to listen.)

 

 

 

The Walls That Divide

Verse 1: The rain outside my window
Echoes rain inside
Of souls I walk past
Each and every day
Their storms of life
Overwhelm
Darkness looms
Shame destroys
Lord, please shine your light

 

Chorus: Break through the walls ’round our hearts
The hurt and the pain I see everyday
Restore our lives, I pray
Break through the walls that divide
Teach us to love, to care, and to serve
Restore our world today
Please break through

 

Verse 2: I am so frustrated by all the hurt I see
People caring less and less about humanity
How did we get so rotten?
How did we get so mean?
Gossip and lies
Please, open our eyes
Lord, please make us clean (Chorus)

 

Verse 3: Alone we are so powerless
Together we are strong
And with God on our side we will be defeated no more
Let us stand up and fight the enemy that seeks to destroy.
Instead, Lord, restore. Please have your way in me. (Chorus)

 

Bridge:
Break through.
Break through.
Break through, today.
Break through the hate
Break through the judgement.
Break through the walls that divide.  (Chorus)

 

 

A prayer to start the day

Dear God,
I pray for the day ahead and ask you to guide each step.
In each decision I make, grant peace to commit and rely.
In each difficult situation I may face, give wisdom.
In each moment of planning and preparation, lead me to plan things that will attract youth and young adults to You.
In each interaction I have with anyone, may I speak only words that make souls stronger.
Guard my heart and guide my time today.
Keep Satan bound, unable to attack or distract me.
Root my heart and fix my eyes on You alone so that all I think, say, or do may bring You glory and make You known in this world.
In Jesus’s powerful name,
Amen!

More prayer than running, but a prayer run none the less…

I received the following post from a high school parent on Facebook:

Bekah I think that Williamsville North needs a prayer run

Somewhat “excited” (not the right word) that I had a clear answer of where my next prayer run should take place, I replied asking her to let me know if she had specific requests.

 

I soon found myself with the news that a North students had decided to take his own life that day.  After talking with the mom a little more, I was determined to do a prayer run near Williamsville North in the morning and I did.  It was kind of surreal to think that the very situation that prompted the idea for the prayer runs in the first place was now leading me to another high school in the morning only 3 weeks later.

I got to the school about 45 minutes before school and began running.  I ran over by the middle school behind the high school too.  After about a mile I made my way back to the school.  I wanted to just stand/sit and pray as students walked in for the day.  I also thought I might see some of our FT students and be able to see how they were doing with the news.  I think I saw two of them coming off the bus but I was still a little ways off and couldn’t catch them.

I’m not sure what I was expecting to see as I watched students file into the building today but it wasn’t what I saw.  It kind of just seemed like another day at a high school.  I wondered how many knew.  I saw tears forming in one girl’s eyes as she got out of a car… whether it was due to Jamey’s death or something else, I’ll never know.  But for the most part things seemed pretty normal.

The humbling part came a few minutes later when I was near the entrance when the morning announcements were made.  After the pledge the student giving the announcments simply said, “I’ll now turn it over to our homeroom teachers who have an announcement for you.”  It still sends chills through my body as I type this… right at that moment, the students were hearing the news.

If they didn’t know before, the would now…

there was no escaping it.

As I sat outside, only silence coming from the PA system, the students in classrooms all over the building were receiving the news.

No doubt many of them had probably heard it from each other before they got to the classrooms, but this was confirmation… it was real.  And if that wasn’t enough, a voice, most likely an administrator came  back on the PA system, “By now you’ve all heard about Jamey’s death…”

As I sat outside covering those students, teachers, and administrators in prayer I could almost sense the air get a little heavy.  “We know this is going to be a difficult day…”

 

I lingered a little longer…

 

… again, trying to wrap my own mind around the news the students just heard and imagining how they may be reacting.  Getting up to leave I passed a few classrooms.  Glancing in I could tell they were still talking about it… students facing forward, likely a more captive audience than the teachers had experienced all year.

 

A humbling way to start the day, “on-site” at the very moment the announcement was made.  There may have been less running and more praying on this specific prayer run, but what a privilege to be right there, on my knees asking God, our Father, to hold his children…. pleading that God would use this situation for good somehow, that people would come to know Him and the hope he has to offer… lifting up students who also may be reaching a point of hopelessness… praying …. and still praying… and inviting you to pray…

 

Emily, Justin, Josh, Jordan, Kaira, and Rotimi… you’re all in my prayers along with your entire school!

Kenmore East Prayer Run

So I started this “prayer run” idea thinking that I’d be running with purpose.  However, I discovered that the opposite was true as well… having a purpose got me to run.  Nothing about this morning said, “looks like a great morning for a run!”  I had played volleyball for a few hours last night, which I love but, after not playing for a few months, my body used muscles it didn’t know existed and I felt them this morning.  Not to mention I was up later last night in order to play VB topped off with the cool, drizzly weather.

Yet, it was no problem for me to get out of bed this morning and drive over to my route… because I had a purpose…. I was on a mission and even if it started raining, it wasn’t going to stop me.   And I’m glad it didn’t.

Since church is less than a mile from Kenmore East High, I figured I’d park there.  Here are some of the things I passed and/or had the privilege of talking with God about this morning while I ran:

• Kenmore East High School in general as they started their school year this week
• Green Acres school
• All of our FT students who attend Kenmore East and their families
  I was even able to include two of their homes on my route to/around the school.
  Even as I lifted up some of these students that I may not know as well, I found myself in awe of the fact that God knows every detail of their lives.
• School buses and carpools making their routes.  I prayed for safety on the buses and for friendships that may be formed this year on the way to and from school.
• Students saying goodbye to their parents as they left their home and began walking to school.  I prayed for them and whatever may be going on in their lives… that they would have  good day and would somehow see Jesus in this day.
• Sports fields and prayed for safety in their practices and games.
• I prayed for Principal Dunnigan, Assistant Principal Ginestre and all the teachers and staff at Kenmore East that they would have the strength and energy they need for each day of this school year.  I prayed that the Christian staff members would find ways to live out their faith as they interact with students and other even if they can’t boldly speak of Christ.  I prayed for wisdom among the administration.
• I prayed for the family and friends of Julian, a KenEast student who died of cancer this summer.
• I prayed for God to work mightily in Kenmore East this year; that Christian students would shine the light of Christ into a dark confusing world.  As I ran back through the neighborhood I saw students standing on corners waiting for buses and prayed for them.  I thought about all the people living in the homes I was running by and how many of them probably were getting up and getting ready for the day.
• I prayed for high school ministry in general and specifically ministry to, with, and for our Kenmore East Students… that while I look at ministry on a large scale, that God would use things like these prayer runs to bring it back to each individual student and what we can do to encourage them in their relationship with God and challenge them to live out their faith.
• I passed Jason and Jaime’s home and prayed for them while they’re away on vacation, that they’re having a great time with their family and that they make it home safely.
• Back at my car, I wrapped up my prayer run lifting up the First Trinity Preschool … the students that will be entering this building soon to learn and grow… for the teachers as they finish preparing… for the parents/families.

I am excited about this opportunity before me and can’t wait to get into other neighborhoods.  I realized today that I was praying for things I would have never even THOUGHT of lifting up in prayer if I hadn’t been running right past it with open eyes.  Things I frequently pass were seen in a new light when I was on a mission to be watching for things I could pray about.  For example, I see school buses or the First Trinity Church Building constantly, but today when I saw these things, my first instinct was to pray.

Anyway, thanks for coming along on my journey.  I invite you to lift up the above things in prayer.

Lastly, here are some pictures from my run this morning:

My prayer list (or well, what survived the nearly 3-mile journey)

Green Acres School

Kenmore East Senior High School

KenEast Sports Fields

 

Running With Purpose

I began my run this morning just like every other day this week… iphone in hand streaming music into my ears, my “Runtracker” app on, ready to watch another gorgeous sunrise. It was a little warmer than the other days this week and definitely more humid, but off I went, out of my apartment complex on my “normal” route.

About a half mile into my normal route I come upon Sweet Home High School (SHHS). Generally, this is just another landmark on my journey, but today, my heart and mind went back to a conversation I had with a Sweet Home High student just last night. She informed me that another student had tragically died only days before beginning his senior year. As I had looked through the memorial page someone had set up on Facebook for this student, “listening” to students, friends, and family pour out their grief of this friend, brother, son, student… I was hit in the gut with the extreme hopelessness in our world.

So, today, as I crossed the street and began running alongside SHHS, I turned off my music, put my headphones in my pocket, and simply began to pray.

I prayed for our First Trinity students who knew Austin.

I prayed for the teachers of Sweet Home. Being a teacher’s kid I know how crazy starting a school year is in general, let alone with a tragedy like this.

I prayed for Austin’s family.

I prayed for all the students who may be blaming themselves for this tragedy, asking the question “What could I have done?” I prayed that Satan would back off and the God would remove any guilt they may be experiencing, replacing it with truth, The Truth.

I prayed for everyone that knew Austin; that they’d truly be able to grieve. Loss is hard no matter what. But there’s just something more intense about losing someone so young.

I prayed for people to surround the grieving and point them to the hope in Jesus.

I prayed that our FT students would be able to be a light to their friends as they begin school on Wednesday.

I prayed… and as I passed SHHS and went farther on in my route, I kept praying.

I prayed for all high school students in the area as they start school this week.

I prayed for hope in a world that seems so hopeless at time.

I prayed for all our 9^th grade students beginning a new phase of their lives… and for our freshmen in college as they, too, begin anew.

I prayed.

Suddenly, my heart grew excited and hopeful as God placed an opportunity before me. For the last mile of my run today, God and I discussed some details of how this kind of thing, running and praying, could be a part of my ministry. Here’s the plan we ended up with by the time I got home:

Later today, when I go into work, I will make a list of all the high schools where First Trinity students attend. Then, each week I will pick one a high school to focus on in prayer that week. At least one day of that week I will drive to that area and run near the school as the students are either beginning or ending their school day. My purpose… pray and run. It’s so simple, but I’m so excited about it!!! I’m excited to be able to pray for my high school students, their friends, their teachers, their school in general and to be “on site” in a way while doing it. I’m excited to think about asking them a couple days before my run if there are certain things I pray about while I run, specific needs in their lives or that they see in their school. I’m excited to see what God has planned as begin running with purpose… I’m sure He’ll show up and I can’t wait to see what happens when He does!

(The sun rising over Sweet Home High.)