Whispers on the Wind

A man sat on a mountain side that overlooked a valley and three other mountains.  He was disheartened by certain things that were happening in his life and he was searching for answers. He began to reflect on his life.  Although he tried to think of the happy times, the funny times, the amazing times, his mind always wondered back to the hard times, the sad times, the hurtful times.


Dejected, the man whispered out loud: " I miss you!"  No sooner had the words left his lips did a strong wind blow from the mountain on his left hand side. He heard a voice carried upon the wind, "I miss you too." 


The man was in shock.  He looked around to see if there was someone else on his mountain side.  He didn't see anyone.  He began to wonder if he was just hearing things or if his mind was playing tricks on him.  He decided he would say something again and see what happens.


"I love you," he whispered into the cool air.  Again just as soon as the words left his lips a strong wind blew from the mountain in front of him and he heard the same voice floating on the wind, "I love you too."


The man sat straight up with this astonished look upon his face.  Where was this voice coming from?  He still thought that might this all be in his mind and that he was just imagining the voice.  Nonetheless he decided to whisper again.


After taking a deep breath the man leaned forward, opened his mouth, and whispered "I need you,"  out into the thin air.  As the word you left his lips, the wind picked up from the mountain to the right of him and he heard,


"I am always with you, through the good, the bad, and the in between.  Call upon me when you need me and I will be there with you.  Holding you, loving you, never leaving you.  You will always be loved because you are my child.  You are a child of God."


Tears began to well up in the man's eyes as he realized that he had been speaking directly to God.  In this great time of need, in this time of reflection, he verbally spoke his needs and God replied and filled his heart.


Too often we forget to talk to God.  We forget to ask God for help.  We forget to remind ourselves that no matter how bad life is, God is always with us.  God speaks back to us through others and through ourselves.  Open you mouth and speak to God.  All it has to be is a whisper and God will answer you.  God will lift you up.  He will show you the way.  He will lead you to the mountain top of the Father, the mountain top of the Son, and the mountain top of the Holy Spirit.


So sit on the side of your mountain and whisper into the wind. 


Then comes the hard part... listening.

Every church needs a TEMPLE!

When a youth hits their senior year in High School they have to make a decision about Youth Group.  They have to decide on top of school work, applications for College, work, sports, and a social life if they want to make Youth Group a priority in their lives.   Sometimes they choose to stay and sometimes they choose to move on.  It is hard when they decide to leave because for most of them I have spent the last six years of my life with them.


There are however those that stay and make Youth Group just as much of a priority as they did in their younger years.  We have been blessed to have senior Youth Group presidents for the last 2 years.  All three of them worked very hard and developed programs that make Youth an amazing fun experience. 


This year Temple has taken on the mantel of president and has been doing an amazing job.  She has only been a youth group member for the past 2 and a half to three years but I feel like I have known her since she was a sixth grader.  Temple has a special something that draws you to her.  She has a loving and compassionate spirit and it shows through her interaction with all the youth in youth group. 


Temple makes time for any and every youth.  She is the only senior I know that will specifically go searching for younger youth to talk to. There are sixth and seventh graders that go searching for Temple just to talk to her. She leads by example and it shows through everything she attends and the work she does to make our Youth Group amazing. 


She is kind, she is considerate, she is understanding, she is passionate, she is dedicated, she is everything that we need in a president of our Youth Group.  Temple is a blessing to everyone in our Youth Group and she truly is a blessing to me! That is why every church needs a Temple!