Glimpses of Light: When You Can See Your Values Reflected...

OK, so this morning I was pretty crabby ... and eventually they all got up and made it to church and my blood pressure didn't put me into cardiac arrest, even though it was close. I don't know why I let myself get so worked up.

I thought maybe it was time for me to blog a positive story about my daughter Mercedes who is quickly approaching 18 and thus challenging my patience on her roller coaster ride to adulthood...

Sadie and her best friend work at McDonald's and have a coworker who recently had her hours cut. She was very upset and expressed to the girls how much she would love to have a different career. If she only had money to get her CNA...

So, two weeks ago at youth group Sadie and her friend mentioned this need to our youth group. They came up with a plan to use some of the bake sale money and ask the church specifically to give a little extra. They had a goal of raising $400 to pay for a CNA class for this woman.

So last weekend Sadie and Allison baked and baked and baked and so did several others at the church. That morning they shared with the church the need and what they planned to do with the money. And as our church often does, they came through and raised over $700.

Last night Sadie and Allison took the woman out to dinner. They presented her with the check and the woman was speechless. She then began to repeat again and again how grateful she was and how she felt unworthy but how awesome the people of the church must be. She asked lots of questions about church.

This morning Sadie was able to share the story with the congregation and I couldn't help but be pleased that some of our values seem to be being passed down to our kids. This is a plan Bart and I would have come up with and yet we didn't -- our daughter did. A plan that involved the church being Jesus to someone they didn't know and a gift that empowered someone to change their lives, not just be a temporarily solution to a problem.

So in the midst of the teenage crazy dark tunnel to adulthood there are these glimpses of light that keep us getting up every morning.

My daughter is an amazing person with so many gifts and she is going to be a world-changer, I just know it. Thanks, Lord, for a glimpse of the future to get me through the annoyances of today....