Recently while I was at work one day, a customer wrote out a
check to pay for her purchase. As I wrote down the information from her
driver’s license, I noticed that she was born in 1924! My immediate thought was
a question, “I wonder what she thinks about our culture today and the way the
world has changed?” I kind of wanted to ask her out for a cup of coffee! I had
so many questions! But a lot of times, I’m still shy, so I never asked her
because I thought she would think I was weird.
The next day while I was counting money in the office, there
was a note on her check for me. It read, “Was this woman really 93?!” It made
me chuckle a little. But I just couldn’t stop thinking about how much life this
woman has seen. What was it like in 1924? How have things changed for the
better? How have things changed for the worse?
And then I thought about the people in my life who have come
before me, my great aunts and uncles, my grandparents, my parents, etc. I
thought about the legacy they have left on my life and the legacy they have
left on the lives of my children.
Our “Young Fishers of Men” series at West Ridge that Pastor John just took us through also came
to mind. And I just felt an overwhelming thankfulness that I’m part of a church
community who is passionate about investing in our young people. Another
question I wanted to ask that 93-year-old customer was what she thought about
this younger generation. As the parent of a teenager, and a leader in our youth
group, I must say that I think this new generation gets a bad rap. Much like
with anything else, you can’t really know about something unless you spend time
learning about it. I have to say the teenagers in my life tend to blow me away
over and over again. They struggle with the same things that I struggled with
is a teenager and probably the same things that you struggled with as a
teenager too. But ultimately the way they think, their heart, their passion, it
all just blows me away!
I remember needing somebody in my corner when I was a
teenager and young adult. I am proud to be part of a community that is going to
stand in the next generation’s corner, cheer them on, and help them rise up to
be the individuals that God made them to be. As we talked about in the series,
so many young people in the Bible served God and changed the world for His
kingdom and for His glory. We learned that age doesn’t matter, God can use
anybody for His purposes. It’s with this perspective that we choose to move
forward and invest in God’s kids of all ages!
And I just love when God makes these little connections for
me whether it is between a sermon series at church, Bible verses in my
devotional time, or whatever the case may be. When these little connections pop up it’s a
reminder to me that God cares and that He listens and that He still speaking.
At West Ridge, we are in a new series called, “Bless”. When
we were discussing this past Sunday’s message in our small group, the end of
Psalm 1:3 stood out to me, “...whatever they do, prospers.” (I’ll post the entire
verse at the end of my post.) When a person follows the decrees of the Lord,
whatever they do prospers.
Immediately my children, and their peers popped into my
head! You see God is blessing and His blessing is eternal. Whatever they do,
prospers. My children, your children, your neighbor’s children, they are a
blessing from God. Much like a tree, children grow, develop, mature... they
prosper! You want to see God’s blessing in your life? I challenge you to invest
in a young person! Be their cheerleader, their shoulder to cry on, point them
to the Word that will root them like a tree planted by the water. (Amen!) I’ll leave you with this key verse from the current West Ridge series“Bless”...
“Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted
by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not
wither— whatever they do prospers.”
Psalm 1:1-3 (NIV)
Post by: Jimmie Lee DiIanni
