Reaching Out

I have been considering what to post next and what topic would be best. I decided to ask myself, would I have needed an After school program or something like the Garage in my community? I don't think that I would have needed an after school program and the Garage would have been great in my town since it was so small and there was nothing for teens to do. I just happened to have a great set of parents that loved me enough to keep me in check and like I said the town was small so anything I did that was bad was immediately reported back to my parents...let me tell you there was a girl that looked alot like me in that town and I got alot of grief over some of her antics! (For Real! )
Kids need parents to love them, and by loving their child they need to sometimes be hard. I had a friend once say to me, "If my child does not fear me, how will they fear the Lord?"
So many kids live today with the thought that nobody cares about them. They hurt so much inside and feel lonely...isn't that an awful feeling?
I wonder how God feels sometimes when He sees a teen crying or even acting out when all they need is a shoulder to cry on or a hug.
Maybe that is why He gives us the compassion through the Holy Spirit to reach out to a teen that we may say is "bad" and just love them for everything they are, the same way that God loves us as adults when we are "acting out".
I know that I often think I don't deserve the salvation, the love, the peace that God gives to me, but Praise God for His mercy and grace.  I think I'll try this next time I find myself wanting to judge a teen, I'll offer what my Father always gives freely to me.
Have a Blessed Day,
Jenn

"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."
Matthew 6:7 (KJV)

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Community working for their Youth

I felt called by God many years ago to work with teenagers. I connect really well with babies and toddlers so I pondered this calling on my heart, "God are you sure?". But time and again I've been faced with teens that I can understand, and really feel pressed upon my heart to pray for, and then I decided, I need to go to college to build upon this calling. In my almost one year of college I had the pleasure of researching a teen center in my community called The Garage. It's a great place for teens to hang out in, discuss their feelings, have some snacks but so much more than that, I can't even begin to describe in a short blog. Most importantly they learn about the true and living Savior, Jesus Christ. My prayer is for more teen centers that help them learn valuable life skills that they might not have the opportunity to learn otherwise. Here is a link if you would like to check it out or even donate to this worthy community center. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Jenn~

http://www.garagezoe.com/