name tags

Wednesday nights I can be found at Blue Ridge Community Church talking about one of my least favorite things. Actually, I can easily say I hate it: divorce. I hate it because God hates it. I hate it because of the negative ways it has affected my life and the lives of people around me. "So why do you talk about it every Wednesday?" you may ask. Because talking about divorce can bring healing. Healing not just for myself but for middle schoolers and high schoolers. We talk about things like sadness & anger & loneliness & why it is not our faults. To open and address our wounds will more readily turn them into scars. And scars tell stories.

On these particular nights I have taken the role of name tag maker. When the kids come in I take a marker and jot their names on sticky labels. About halfway through the night we were all sitting in a big circle talking and something caught my eye. My handwriting was on a girl who is homeschooled who doesn't like religion. I turned to the right and saw my handwriting on a 16 yr. old boy who doesn't want to live. I looked on around the circle and saw my writing on numerous teenagers who I've only been around 3 or 4 times. And I realized that when they left, even though they took their name tags off, my mark would still be on them. And I couldn't help but ask myself what kind of mark I was leaving. 

I pray that I leave them with Jesus. That through my laughter and jokes they can see His joy. Through my stories and heartaches they can see His redemption & grace. I hope that through my awkward questions and comments they can feel His love and His relentless pursuit of them. Maybe just maybe when they leave that room on Wednesdays night they leave me and take Jesus. Because His name tag is the only one worth wearing anyways.