The most recent: Humble Pie
Here's how it goes:
Ingredients
13 Teenagers
6 Adults
5600 Miles of Driving
50 Miles of Walking
1 Service Project
14 Hours of Sermons and Music
And lots of Peanut Butter and Jelly
Instructions
After a lengthly planning period of about 6 months, mix all ingredients together. This should be done over a period of 12 days. Throw in a few wrong turns and about 800 other teenagers from all over the country and you will have successfully created a delicious, though sometimes hard to swallow humble pie.
How do I know this works? I recently just returned from a youth trip to the Free Methodist Youth Conference held in Fort Collins, CO. As the youth leader, I got the job of planning and coordinating this trip. I had never done anything like this before, and so I was super meticulous. I was trying to be very careful not to forget any tiny detail. I had folders and binders, copy upon copy of insurance cards. I had written a devotional packet for the ride there and back. I counted money and organized fundraisers. We held a spiritual retreat to make sure teens were spiritually ready for this event. I was hopeful that I had thought of every last detail. I didn't want anything to go wrong. However, I quickly learned that no matter how much work I had done,
nothing would be up to me.
None of the work I did, none of my capabilities, skills or organizational abilities were going to be what mattered. See, getting us to Colorado was simply a means to a much greater end. I wanted to see the lives of these teenagers transformed. I wanted to see them experience God and understand what it means to give their entire lives over to them. My folders and binders were not going to make that happen. Even my carefully folded devotional packets weren't going to make that transformation a reality.
As I settled into my seat in the arena the first night, I took a deep breath and tried to settle myself down. We were barely on time for the session, having arrived late due to a wrong turn made by the vehicle I was supposed to be navigating. I took a look around at the group I was with as the lights went down. We had arrived, and suddenly the control I had was no more. Quickly the program started, and as I took in the words that were opening the event, my mind was blown. The scripture being read was the one we had done in the devotional packet that morning. I could never have made that happen on my own. That was all God.
This was not the last time this happened. Over and over again, the messages my fellow youth leaders and I had been seeking to teach the kids, were being repeated by the speakers on the stage, or were popping up in the devotionals they had provided. I eventually lost count of the amount of times I caught myself laughing at the power of God to orchestrate such perfect, seeming coincidences. Still, my determination to rely on my own abilities was controlling me. In my desire to see the kids learn, I had missed the leasing God was trying to teach me. It finally hit me towards the end of the conference.
Once again I was sitting in my seat, looking around at the group of teenagers I had found myself somehow in charge of. I was overwhelmed by a sense of inadequacy. How could I possibly lead them? How could I make sure they were allowing God to work in their hearts and speak to them? I looked up at the sky and expressed this very thought to God, and heard a clear concise answer:
Alone, you can't, but, if you let me, through you, I can.
I Can't. He Can.
At that moment, I found myself humbled beyond belief. In my own human ability there is no way that I can lead these kids. There is no way that I can change their lives that they might live fully for Jesus. Only God can do that. All he is asking me to do is partner with Him. I am so excited, terrified, and humbled to be able to say,
"Here is my life, Lord, use it as You see fit. Not through my strength and ability, but only through yours. Let my life be one continuous slice of humble pie."
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| Jesus Changes Everything |
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