God has brought some amazing people into my life, but I want to take a minute and talk about one in particular. This person isn’t a Pastor, mentor, or even another leader, he was one of my students. His name is Jaylen. I met him a few years back when he first accepted the Lord into his heart. At his first youth retreat he spent almost all of his free time down by the rope swing which I was working. This was the first time I really got to spend time and talk with him, and just like me he is a talker. In those hours by the lake I saw growth and gifts in him. At first he was terrified to jump off the rope swing, so after what seemed to be hours of encouraging him then threatening that I would just push him he finally did it. After that one jump Jaylen became an encourager to everyone that came to enjoy the plunge into the lake. Being positive and talking people through the fear they were feeling 15 feet above the water.
Every year after that I saw crazy growth, hunger, and obedience for God in Jaylen like I have never seen before.
A few summers after he started attending our church his family decided they were going to move out of state. Jaylen’s grandma offered him a place at her house so he could stay. That was the plan until God spoke to him and told him to move with his family. This was a difficult decision for him, but he put himself aside and kept God as his focus. I was sad he was moving, but blown away at the obedience of this 16 year old.
Since he has moved we have always kept in touch, talking about what God is doing in our lives and encouraging each other.
As I was mentally preparing myself (probably watching Netflix) for a Jr. High lock in with 86 students, my phone rang. I was excited to see Jaylen’s name on the screen. Right when I answered he started asking me about my trip and about the program. After I caught him up on all the details and what God was doing in my life I asked how his life was going. His answer blew me away. He recently just graduated High School, and for as long as I can remember his dream was to be a Doctor. He worked his butt off in high school and it paid off. He told me that he was offered a full ride to a University, but the thing was he didn’t go. When the offer came to him first thing he did was pray about it, and God had something very different in mind for him. “God made it very clear to me to go to ministry school and become a Youth Pastor’” he told me. So he applied to ministry school and was put on the weight list, but he didn’t worry about it. One day he got a call and was told someone dropped and he was the first person on the list and had a spot. He is now in ministry school and the happiest I have ever heard him.
As we ended the conversation I was overcome by joy. God used him in that moment to remind me that God has greater plans than we could ever imagine. If we just let God have control and stay obedient he will guide us and always have our backs.
