I SAID YES!

 

This is kind of long, but good. I promise.

Sunday morning, a woman in my church approaches me and asks if her son could go to the conference (CIY) with us.

My immediate response was “I’m not sure…ask Brian…”  She replied “I asked Jeff, who told me to ask Brian, who told me to ask you.”  And so I followed up with “we’ve sent registration in already, so I’m not sure if it’s possible.”  Thankfully she didn’t accept that as an absolute and said Brian just wasn’t sure if there were seats on the bus available.  There were.  So I said yes.  I got her the necessary paperwork, and gave her the necessary information.  I left church that day feeling much more apprehensive about the trip we were about to embark on.

 

Here’s why.

Her son is not just any normal kid.  He has a past.  Now, I know, we all have a past, but his is much more intense.  He’s growing up in a broken family, with a hate for his stepdad.  He responded to his family situation by acting out, and was sent to a juvenile center for behavior modification for about a year.  When he returned, he was near unrecognizable.  He had begun to form an identity, to form a reputation for what he wanted to be perceived as.  He wore makeup, heavy dark eyeliner, and bright blue eyeshadow (side note: his makeup looked better than mine would).  Piercings covered him, eyebrows, lips, nipples, and *ahem* more.   His hair was a mohawk.   His pants hung off his butt.  He did drugs, smoked, and walked that path.  Perhaps the most heartbreaking thing of all are the wounds on his arm.  Some healed, some raw.  He wanted to make a statement…and he succeeded.  You could almost hear the breath leave the sanctuary the first Sunday he returned to church.  Since being back, he has gone to church, but more to appease his mother.  The strange part is that he actually knows a lot of scripture, but Satan had latched on to his mind and his heart and filled it with lies.  Lies about who God is.  Lies about what is ok and what’s not ok.  Lies about his identity.

 

My response was wrong.  I should have said yes immediately and worked hard to make it possible.  I should have done everything I could to make sure that kid was at this conference.   Thank God He had it figured out despite my response.  And the Holy Spirit convicted me pretty fast, so by the time we were on the road, my only prayer was that God would speak to him this week.

And He did.

 

After 3 days of an intense series of themes, focused on the ‘fatherless’ epidemic, community, and ultimately forgiveness, and being covered in continual prayer, he made some decisions.  He was able to talk to Jeff, to really talk through the big issues he had with control, and wanting the perfect image.  He was able to form new relationships with other young men in the group, and found out that he was not alone in his problems, and that he could have quality people to spend time with.  He was able to forgive his stepfather.  When he came out to meet us for a late night McDonald’s run, he wore no makeup, no piercings, and announced to the group that he had decided to accept Jesus. 

 

We rejoiced.  We cried.  We celebrated.

But I know Heaven was rejoicing more.

 

And so, as I laid in bed that night, I realized that God had said yes to him before he was born.  I felt a stab of guilt that my first response was no to a child of God.  But I praise Him for turning it into a yes.  I praise Him for the incredible transformation I have witnessed this week.  I praise Him for being a living God, fully invested in the lives of His children.

 

I can only pray that my answer will always be yes.

And I ask that you pray for Alex as he begins his life as a new creation, finding his identity in his Maker and Savior.

Update (6/24/12): Alex got up in front of our church this morning and confessed his faith in Jesus Christ with a “Darn Straight” and “Heck ya”…Satan’s not gonna be happy that he lost this one…but my heart is so full I can hardly stand it. 🙂