Out of the Park
Posted on Friday, April 27, 2012 by
Today I was reminded of one of our youth whom we have very intentionally been trying to build relationship with. At every turn we have met with road blocks and resistance from her.For months she has been dragging her feet in competing the essay necessary for her to be accepted into the after 18 part of ILS.
This past Saturday something changed. The simple act of inviting her to a baseball game changed things. When I picked her up, she was so excited and kept talking about how she had never been to a baseball game before and how much she was looking forward to this. On the way home, it was the recap of how much fun she had, how she will remember this day (keeping her ticket stub as a memento) and how grateful she was that we allowed her to go. In the midst of that ride home, we got into a discussion about healthy relationships and God's perspective on this. We had a VERY good discussion. She then came in yesterday and church came up in discussion with her ILS counselor. God is opening doors!
She wrote this in her essay that I received today:
"The staff at ILS have been very helpful to me. I know I always have someone to talk to and I can call anytime I need to. I also know that they are here to help us in every way they can. I am so grateful for the support and help I have gotten from them."
Relationships are built one step at a time. It is fun to be able to turn around and gaze back on those steps and see that you have actually climbed higher than you had realized. Intentional pursuit of authentic relationship... and letting God do the rest!