"What does it feel like to believe?"

I love the opportunities God gives me to share and reach out to a teen. I live for these moments! They are a blessing, that God gives me to affirm this is where he wants me. Often they aren't moments that I come up with, not in a lesson or program, but often very random, in a text message, or facebook chat message. These moments where a teen comes up and asks those questions that none of us have a real answer for.

Over the past few months I've had a handful of kids come to me and through our discussions have hit some pretty hard stuff, and I don't pretend to have the answer. Often I'm a pair of ears to listen, and I offer them the most genuine and sound advice that God pours into my heart so that they can hear. I've learned that it's definitely not me talking but God is using me to reach this kids.

Last night, I was babysitting, and this young teenage girl asked if I could talk. I figured she was just buying minutes of stalling before she went to bed, but she just wanted to chat. She floored me with her conversation. She first asked me how old I was when I started to believe. I told her I was raised in the church and always believed, however it wasn't until I was about 12 or 13 when I realized what it was that I believed. We talked about what it meant to believe and about the struggles to find God, and create a relationship with Him. It was so great to talk about it, and she had such a hunger to know more. I was so blessed to have been able to share with her, and have her share with me.

One of the things she asked that just threw me off my rocker was "What does it feel like to believe?" I struggled finding the words to describe it. It was such a complex and yet simple question. It really floored me, and I was kind of surprised because I had never been asked that before. I just took a deep breath and shared with her what I felt as a believer.

I hope and pray that through her struggles and questions she is able to find God's love. And I pray that God can use me and any other leaders to impact her growth.