Aaron Smith’s Blog

We packed up five vans full of kids and chaperons and headed down to Ocean City Maryland for a weekend Youth Conference. With scattered, ambiguous messages from profound speakers, a musical worship group with fluffy lyrics and adequate skills, and a band that provides a frying pan of diversity which captured our kids hearts and emotions; we all left with an impact worth the $60 ticket price. The Will Smith esque speaker quickly became the hero of us all. He had a gospel presentation that was clear in the midst of all his scattered, yet hard drawing stories. Tyra, the sign lady, had a kindness and a life story that could only have been the redemption by the Sovereign God. There were some question of the integrity of the acting man who told the prodigal son story as his own, then confessed it was made up in regards to his own life. The profound Impacts happened within our own group. My revealed goal was to provide an environment from which the kids could bond into deeper relationships. My unrevealed goal was to provide an environment that was similar to home in goofiness and the use of cellphones and tvs. I wanted the kids to learn that God can show up in the midst of their regular lives and lifestyles so that when they go home, that they will learn that God is still there with them. God did indeed show up. We prayed for one another on the first night and there was an immense time of building one another up. The Holy Spirit left a rich impact on us all. It was one of two times in my life where God impacted me by showing up in a profound way when His people built one another up. Or maybe it was that when God showed up, His people built one another up. Additional Highlights included tackle football on the beach, ultimate frisbee, shopping, apples to apples, boppy ball (volleyball on beds), hearts, chess, throwing shield game, hallway soccer, drunken hallyway golf (not our group of course but some other crazy, shady people), piles of pizza, burger king and Mcdonald’s, snack bags in the car, fog and drizzle, rebuke of one of our own for wearing a “demonic sweatshirt”, a bayside sermon on the freedom of Christ, bad bathroom experiences, middle school bonding, senior send-off, giddy girls, Chris the chick magnet, midnight pranks of tying kids to their beds, piling cream in someone’s hand and tickling their face. Then we came home and had a massive hailstorm while we were just getting settled in our houses. For me, it is an attestation and reminder  that God showed up!

Some say that God never wastes a single one of our experiences but He uses every one of them to mold us, to develop our character, and to help us minister to a select people group. Others use such a view to say that they would not change a single thing from their past (whether positive or negative) becasue of what those experiences contributed to their lives. The latter view becomes dangerous when we applaud ourselves for the path we have taken because it made us our present selves. Frankly, to think of our self as the best possible scenario of the accumulation of events leading up to the present time is quite arrogant, especially if such a thought traces each of our own steps with self-applause. The fact that we are even worthy to struggle with that given sentiment of arrogance is nothing short of hilarious if we could only remember how many errant steps we have taken. To consist of anything resembling humanity given so many stumbling trips  is nothing short of a redeeming act from God. When I attempt to say that I don’t regret any decisions I ever made because of what they have attributed in my present making, every bone in my body screeches to a halt to keep me from such a disastorous act. What I can learn from all of this is that I can walk freely without fear. The walk of grace provides that the Lord has been the redeemer in my present life despite the steps I took to get here. The walk of grace provides that the Lord will contine to be my redeemer regardless of the steps I take in this life while my path slowly straightens out. The walk of grace provides that when I am done walking, my journey will be complete, my residence will be nothing but redemption. My steps will have been irrevelant to the giant leap made on my behalf.