Disengaged.

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Tonight I read an article titled "Youth Groups Driving Christian Teens to Abandon Faith", and sighed.  My heart is heavy for our youth.  It has been heavy all week, but as I read the opening paragraph, the word 'disengaged' screamed at me and broke my heart.

 Disengaged.

dis·en·gage

verb (used with object), dis·en·gaged, dis·en·gag·ing.
1. to release from attachment or connection; loosen; unfasten
2. to free (oneself) from an engagement, pledge, obligation, etc.

Disengaged.

Separated, unattached.

Oh my heart.

I just want to gather all the kids in my life and share with them about how good God is, how faithful He is, how He never abandons, how He is both patient and urgent for our hearts, how He is full of life and joy and humor and adventure, how He loves extravagantly, and how He is sovereign over all the powers of the enemy.

I want to gather all the people in my life, to make sure they know.

Maybe you think I'm crazy, and maybe my emotions are heightened because it's after 1:30AM, but God just re-broke my heart for the people in my community, in my country.

I wish more people were engaged.  People of all ages.  But the disengagement, disinterest, or distance from God had to start somewhere.  Because it doesn't begin that way.  No, God is there.  He's always there, but He was there, in the most fragile and tiny and very beginnings of our lives.  God is there.  And maybe He wasn't welcomed in some of our homes when we were little, and so we never thought to invite Him in.  Maybe He was, and somehow got pushed out.

I'm confronted with the reality that when I meet with our youth group this week, I will have approximately eight precious souls staring at me, each with a different background, each from a different home, and I have no idea how welcome God is there.  But what could be an overwhelming fact is an area of glory for God: eight unique stories of how God has impacted their precious lives, if only they would hold fast to Him.

I sometimes feel like I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with a group of rowdy teenagers.  Sometimes I wonder why God planted me with them.  But I am convinced that there is no greater honor than to share His love with the people He places in front of us.  He must have melted my heart for them for this reason.

My prayer is that I would bless Him as He has blessed me.  That His words would be my words, that my heart would reflect His, and that those precious souls would cling to Him.  That they would never, ever disengage.

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