Someone believes in you.
They have invested in you.
They have walked with you as a friend.
They have walked ahead of you as an example.
You know their life is authentic.
You know their faith is real.
Such is the situation when the Apostle Paul writes these very personal, very powerful words to his friend Timothy.
For this reason
I remind you
to fan into flame
the gift of God,
which is in you
through the laying
on of my hands. (2 Tim. 1:6 NIV)
The old Apostle reminds the young pastor of others who have lived the life before him.
I have been reminded of your sincere faith
which first lived in your grandmother Lois
and in your mother Eunice
and, I am persuaded,
now lives in you also. (2 Tim. 1:5 NIV)
Who has invested in you?
What did they do to bring you into God's story?
How are you fanning God's gift into a roaring flame within your life today?
Grace & peace
This was today's devotional that I receive from my church. I love these devotionals. I used to say that going to youth group on Wednesday nights kept me sane, but getting these devotionals everyday keep me more sane than ever before. Today's really impacted me. Why?
Someone has invested in me. If they hadn't, I probably wouldn't be writing this blog right now. I could name off so many people who have invested their time in me. My parents, my family, my friends, my many youth pastors, my piano teacher/pastor, etc. The two or maybe even three that stick in my head are the ones you probably hear me talk about the most. It's my Aunt Ann and my two old youth pastors, Matt and Lindsay.
These are three people who invested in me. What did they do to bring me into God's story?
Without my Aunt Ann, I don't know where I would be. I certainly wouldn't have such a strong faith in God. When I was about 9, she convinced me to go to VBS at her church and I had so much fun that I stayed and even started going to church with her. But she didn't just stop investing right there. I fell out of church for a while because I got bored with it, but she never gave up on me. She invited me to go on a mission trip. I went and met a lot of awesome people who I became friends with. After that trip, I started going to church on a regular basis, to her church. I still had to go to Catholic church sometimes, but mostly I went to her church. One year for school, I remember being asked who my American hero was and I wrote a paper on my Aunt Ann. She was my role model back then and continues to be my role model these days. In a way, seeing all that she does makes me want to go out into the world and change the world.
Two people who have really invested their time in me are Matt and Lindsay, two of my old youth pastors. They were the more recent ones and if you hear me talking about old youth pastors, it's more than likely that I'm referring to these two. They are such a wonderful couple. I remember hating them at first. I didn't want anything to do with them. After our first 30 Hour Famine, we got to know them a little better. Then over the summer, I had a change and I really started to get to know them. Then for our second 30 Hour Famine, I was solo and away from my best friend Becky (which at the first famine we were always doing stuff together), so I had to hang with other people. We had a lot of fun that weekend. It was a major turning point in my life because I started to really listen to sermons and lessons. As immature as we could all be, Matt and Lindsay never gave up on us. Sure, they got really frustrated because certain people wouldn't stop talking, but they never gave up. And they were always willing to listen. One of my favorite memories was talking to Lindsay about stuff in the nursery because we kept getting interrupted in the youth room. Also some of us girls used to say that we want to marry a guy like Matt because he's such a good Christian influence even when he may think he's not (afterall nobody's perfect). Geez, I talk about them as if they're gone from my life. Well they may have moved away from me, but they haven't lost contact with me. I talk to them constantly and they are so willing to help me with whatever dilemma I'm facing. They've even told me to call whenever I feel like I need to talk, but since I talk to them so often online, I don't take advantage of that very often.
I'm trying everyday to live as Christ did. It's hard, but I keep on going. It's because of people like my Aunt Ann, Matt, and Lindsay that I'm here trying to live my life this way. They have gone before me and have really influenced me even if they didn't realize it.
I'm forever thankful for what each of these Christians did to my life. They've changed me forever and that change is a good thing.
This was today's devotional that I receive from my church. I love these devotionals. I used to say that going to youth group on Wednesday nights kept me sane, but getting these devotionals everyday keep me more sane than ever before. Today's really impacted me. Why?
Someone has invested in me. If they hadn't, I probably wouldn't be writing this blog right now. I could name off so many people who have invested their time in me. My parents, my family, my friends, my many youth pastors, my piano teacher/pastor, etc. The two or maybe even three that stick in my head are the ones you probably hear me talk about the most. It's my Aunt Ann and my two old youth pastors, Matt and Lindsay.
These are three people who invested in me. What did they do to bring me into God's story?
Without my Aunt Ann, I don't know where I would be. I certainly wouldn't have such a strong faith in God. When I was about 9, she convinced me to go to VBS at her church and I had so much fun that I stayed and even started going to church with her. But she didn't just stop investing right there. I fell out of church for a while because I got bored with it, but she never gave up on me. She invited me to go on a mission trip. I went and met a lot of awesome people who I became friends with. After that trip, I started going to church on a regular basis, to her church. I still had to go to Catholic church sometimes, but mostly I went to her church. One year for school, I remember being asked who my American hero was and I wrote a paper on my Aunt Ann. She was my role model back then and continues to be my role model these days. In a way, seeing all that she does makes me want to go out into the world and change the world.
Two people who have really invested their time in me are Matt and Lindsay, two of my old youth pastors. They were the more recent ones and if you hear me talking about old youth pastors, it's more than likely that I'm referring to these two. They are such a wonderful couple. I remember hating them at first. I didn't want anything to do with them. After our first 30 Hour Famine, we got to know them a little better. Then over the summer, I had a change and I really started to get to know them. Then for our second 30 Hour Famine, I was solo and away from my best friend Becky (which at the first famine we were always doing stuff together), so I had to hang with other people. We had a lot of fun that weekend. It was a major turning point in my life because I started to really listen to sermons and lessons. As immature as we could all be, Matt and Lindsay never gave up on us. Sure, they got really frustrated because certain people wouldn't stop talking, but they never gave up. And they were always willing to listen. One of my favorite memories was talking to Lindsay about stuff in the nursery because we kept getting interrupted in the youth room. Also some of us girls used to say that we want to marry a guy like Matt because he's such a good Christian influence even when he may think he's not (afterall nobody's perfect). Geez, I talk about them as if they're gone from my life. Well they may have moved away from me, but they haven't lost contact with me. I talk to them constantly and they are so willing to help me with whatever dilemma I'm facing. They've even told me to call whenever I feel like I need to talk, but since I talk to them so often online, I don't take advantage of that very often.
How am I fanning God's gift into a roaring flame within my life today?
I'm trying everyday to live as Christ did. It's hard, but I keep on going. It's because of people like my Aunt Ann, Matt, and Lindsay that I'm here trying to live my life this way. They have gone before me and have really influenced me even if they didn't realize it.
I'm forever thankful for what each of these Christians did to my life. They've changed me forever and that change is a good thing.
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