Sustenance For The Journey

My daughter brought some friends home to stay at our house for a long weekend.
A house-full of girls.
Young women really.
Young women of beauty, talent, Godliness, and promise.

How I loved sitting at our long kitchen table and hearing their hearts.
How I loved sitting at our long kitchen table listening to their dreams.
How I rejoiced when I heard them share what God is doing in their lives.
How I loved their laughter, their conversation, and their vitality.

The future is in good hands.

I do not say that lightly.
Of course, they are still young.
Of course, they have their education to complete.
Of course, there know they have much more to learn.

They trust God and that is everything.

I looked around my table and saw various aspects of our culture represented.
One young woman majors in art and the world is her canvas.
One has a double major in English and History; words and people she remarked.
One, preparing to be an elementary school teacher, has a palpable love of children.

One is studying social work and desires to work with orphans in other parts of the world.
One is majoring in Christian Ministry, with a concentration in Philosophy.
Another young woman came for an overnight visit, since she had to work the next day.
As a music major, she will join with the musicians that came before and after her.

My daughter is majoring in Digital Media, with a story to tell, and various ways to tell it.
The major pillars of society are covered in the lives of these young women.
Pillars on which society rests.
Pillars that need to be fortified by God’s people.

The future is in good hands.

Will it be an easy road?
Not in this fallen world.
Can they achieve their dreams on their own?
Not without the hand of God, guiding and directing them.

There was not an ounce of frivolity at my table.
There was typical girl conversation, as there should be.
However, there was an earnestness about these young women.
They have a practical view of the world that they will be entering in a few years.

The world is not ready for the likes of them.
The world will be turned on its head by their ingenuity.
The culture will be impacted by their gifts.
The Kingdom will be increased by their sincere faith.

I experienced such joy over the course of four days.
They all came into my home as my daughter’s friends.
They all left my home as kindred spirits.
Kindred spirits for whom I will now pray and for whom I am available.

Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching, and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Timothy 4: 11-16)

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young.
We are doing ourselves a great disservice if we dismiss the ideas of our young people.
God works through willing hearts that belong to Him.
God does not delegate Kingdom work based on age.

God chooses and uses.
God gives faith to accomplish the task.
God gives gifts so that no two people are serving Him in exactly the same way.
God promises His presence and tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us.

In Christ, we are a formidable foe to the enemy of our souls.
It is not the most learned person the enemy worries about.
Rather, his biggest concern is the Godly believer, the one who has trusted Christ.
They are the ones that are the biggest threat to the kingdom of this world.

The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever. (Revelation 11:15)

The car was packed, the duffel bags were in place, and the seat belts were fastened.
I walked up the driveway to get the newspaper that I had forgotten to retrieve.
As I came back down, I passed the car still sitting in our driveway.
I looked in for one final wave.

What I saw warmed my heart.
I saw young women with their heads down.
I saw young women with their eyes closed.
I saw young women praying before they set out on their journey.

I will have that image in my heart for a long time.
I thought about how appropriate it truly was.
Whether it is an hour journey on the turnpike or a life-long journey of faith, it is the same.
Each journey begins, ends, and is sustained by prayer.

I never thought that these young women could teach me so much.
It is I who was blessed.
It is I that should be thanking them.
The future is in good hands.