Is it really worth it?

Thankful for the opportunity to know God.

Thankful to have a right relationship with Him.

Thankful for opportunities to extend this grace & mercy to others. 

Meet Lauren.

As I walked into the MU this morning around 7, there was a girl sitting in the entrance. Strange. I smiled as I walked by, only a couple minutes until my Bible Study started. As I walked out an hour or so later, I notice she was still there. Really strange! So I strike up conversation & end up hearing her life story. An hour & a half later, she decides it's not worth it--not yet. It's not worth it to follow Jesus. Drinking, doing drugs, being passed around from aunt to aunt because she's too much to handle since age 12-- yeah, that'll leave a mark. As she opened up about some wounds from her past, I had the sweetest opportunity to share my story...

September of my senior year in high school, Mark Arant was speaking at Escape & gave a very basic, clear gospel presentation. He held a bucket of rocks & shared how each time we sin, another rock is added to the bucket--adding up and becoming a heavy heavy burden. I felt that burden. I felt the shame of my past. As he poured the bucket of rocks out onto the stage, he shared how Jesus died to remove that burden. He died to remove the punishment that I rightly deserve & to take it on himself. As I wrote my name on a rock & set it at the foot of the cross in the room, I finally surrendered. 

God softened her heart & enabled her to identify with the shame. The burden. The guilt she lives with every single day. She was deeply moved & compelled by the grace God has poured out on my life--nothing I'm deserving of! This was one of the most enjoyable conversations I've had in a long time! Through several points in our conversation, she stopped me & said, "This is weird, it's like God planned this or something! This is crazy!"

Would you quickly say a prayer for Lauren? She longs to be free of guilt & shame. She recognizes the separation between her & God, but won't surrender control. Towards the end of our conversation, she said, "I want to know God, I really do... but there's no way I will stop smoking weed. I just can't see it ever happening." 

Praying for God to transform her heart, from the inside-out!

Oh yeah, why was she sitting by the door in the MU? Was dropped off by the Greyhound bus at 6, from Missouri. On her way to Cedar Rapids... hoping for a new start. I only wish she could understand the 'new start' she could receive in Christ!