Treasures in Heaven

My husband and I have been fortunate to be involved with a ministry called Young Life for many years. Young life is a non-denominational Christian ministry to high school students in which adult leaders (college age and older) spend time with high school students and share the gospel with them, simply by living life with them. Each week in our town, we have "club," in which 50 or so high school students get together to sing songs, play games, and hear a brief message about who God is and why He is relevant to adolescents. We also have a smaller group Bible study once a week where we go a little deeper into studying God's Word and helping interested kids get a better understanding of Jesus. Each summer, we take kids to a gorgeous camp (one of many throughout the country) to let them experience "the best week of their lives" playing, laughing, eating great food, and above all, hearing how God saved us by grace through His Son.

My husband and I were both involved in Young Life as high school students and were both deeply impacted by it back then. My husband gave his life to Christ at a beautiful Young Life camp called Lake Champion in New York and has been a different person ever since. Once he struggled with deep depression, but those days are a thing of the past since he gave Jesus control of his life. It was at another Young Life Camp called Rockbridge (located in Virginia) that I discovered I had put my relationship with Christ way on the back burner in high school; I made a commitment that week to walk with God from then on. Both of us profoundly changed; both would say it's the best decision we ever made.

And now, many years later, having been Young Life leaders pretty much since college, we are still volunteering with the ministry and loving every minute of it. It's incredible how much God continues to use the ministry in our lives - maybe even more than in the lives of kids! We are thankful to be a part of such a wonderful community of believers and thankful for the ways we have seen God use Young Life in many communities of high school students and their families.

So many people asked if we would stop leading "now that you're not in college anymore" or "now that you're working full time" or "now that you have a child," and our answer has been, simply: no way! We feel called to this ministry and it has been such a blessing to us for so many years. Until we clearly hear God calling us away from leading Young Life (probably when my son reaches high school himself!!), we will remain a part of this ministry. I think it also brings us closer as husband and wife to do ministry together, being like minded and unified to bring others to Christ.

I still remember doing our New Leader Training for Young Life back in college and one of the staff members said: "Leading Young Life isn't for everyone. God uses different people in different ministries to reach all sorts of people. The question is, if God isn't calling you to ministry in Young Life, where is He calling you? Because we are never called to not be ministering at all."

That has stuck with me over all these years and so I'll pass it on today. Maybe it's a ministry to your non-believing family, friends, or co-workers. Maybe it's outreach through your church or community. Maybe it's an organized ministry like Young Life - but whatever it is, we have been gifted with time, talent, and opportunity from God. We should make the most of it every day!

"Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." - Matthew 6:20