Spanish test

So, I realized this morning that I have a Spanish test today. Jeez, I should have studied more. Oh well. I guess I'll probably still get a good grade. Then during our usual Lab period the class is all going to a Mexican restaurant to eat and order in Spanish. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Since I realize now that people in Caruthersville are reading this blog I want to say a bit about the community.

I've been doing YL in Cville for about one and a half years. I have to know the community quite a bit. I know about 250 kids at CHS by name. And probably the whole school knows me. I'm around when not many adults are around hanging out with the kids. I've seen what high school kids in Cville do when no one's watching. And what I haven't seen I hear about. I see that there's still a lot of pain involved in growing up. I recognize that it doesn't make a huge difference where a kid is growing up; the same basic things torment all high school kids. Parents getting divorced, girlfriend/boyfriend troubles, pressure toward drugs/alcohol, materialism, try-outs, etc. And almost every kid recognizes what they need. They need adults who are willing to be friends with them without any conditions. They need adults who will love them without trying to get anything in return. So many teens are abused, marketed to, and pressured by adults that all they want is adult friends.
During my stay in Caruthersville I have come to love the school. I can't think of a single kid at CHS that I wouldn't like to get to know better. My heart aches with the kids when things go wrong. My emotions soar when I see things go right and see kids succeed. I long to see more of my high school friends walk in an everyday relationship with Jesus.
And there I am on campus. A representative of Jesus Christ, walking the halls of CHS. I don't have to show kids my credentials. I don't wear an ordination certificate on my shirt. Because they know I love them. That is my credential to get into their lives. Never once has a kid asked me what kind of degree I had, how much money I make, or where I was educated. They care that I care, and they feel like so few adults really care.
So I pray daily for the kids at CHS. I pray by name for the kids I know, and I pray that God would allow me to enter lives of even more kids.
Things are messy when you're spending most of your time hanging out with kids who don't know God or don't act like they do. Kids curse, they fail, they reject me. But I know that Christ has endured far more of my rejection than I have ever endured. And He went on to die for my sake.

So when people ask me what I do this is what I'll tell them: I allow Jesus to love kids through me.