The teens here are a group full of energy and excitement, that keep you on your toes guessing what they’ll do next. Casafe has become the place they can hang out, be themselves and then come back again to play all the same jokes tomorrow. I love how freeing Lisa has designed this place to be for them, the teens have a safe place to be themselves. Sometimes that looks like singing loud and proud while rinsing off from the ocean. Sometimes it means playing jokes right back on us. Sometimes it means creating a ‘lemon’ commercial to pull one over on a girl from the states on pretend uses of a lemon. Sometimes it means At other times it means during a lesson on Moses’ life, all of a sudden one teen says, “Lisa, let’s take a selfie.” So we all squeeze together and capture the picture.
Recently I read a book called “No Perfect People Allowed.” One of the main concepts of the book is ‘come as you are.’ There’s a beautiful thing about that, as we come who we are there’s no need to attempt to mask our mistakes or shortcomings. As Burke says, “once we stand in grace where we don’t have to hide, we become who God intended us to be.” There’s so much beauty to the potential that holds. At Casafe at times I feel the teens offer this grace in great ways as they express their value of community. With one another they laugh together, but they also give room to be serious and to have space for trial and error. Teens have learned to surf by being encouraged to put down the comfort of the hoodie board for just a day. They that same day, they’re praying with one another sharing requests of things to pray for. They show me patience by letting me practice my Spanish and they either joke back with me or give me another shot of making sense of my jumbled up words. what I love is that no matter the activity, the atmosphere is created for all to feel comfortable to keep growing.
The communities I’ve been part of that offer this grace are truly freeing. It is liberating to experience depths of who God created us be. It’s fun to understand new possibilities and to be encouraged no matter the outcome of trials and errors. As the teens experience it, you can see their eyes light up as they gain confidence in saying an English word correctly. No matter the activity, they can mess up and still feel free to me their self. Recently we’ve had some new boys coming with the crew and because of the atmosphere created by the regulars; newbees have been encouraged from the start to be themselves. As they set the tone, the pattern continues of extending grace so that new people can become who God intended them to be. I’m encouraged to believe the great potential in store for these teens, as they continue breaking down walls and discovering new heights of who they are.
So here’s a tad bit more on what happens at Casafe. Come as you are, stretch yourself and grow. We’re down at the beach if you want to come on by!
