Making Our Marks...

I've been on a trip with my congregation's "Solid Rock" youth group. I've been working with youth groups for over eight years now. I've never enjoyed working with a group of kids as much as these. They are solid...in faith, service, hope...though their lives are varied, and their homes are a kaleidoscope of the suburban realities that assail all who live in such a realities.

But this week, we've been making a unique mark: one of service and sacrifice, of joy and laughter. And it has been showing in the tears, the excited sharing, the warm embraces, the great meals shared. It has been showing in homes rebuilt and rubbish hauled away down here in Bayou la Batre, Alabama...where the flood waters washed in at high tide along with Katrina.

But as Katrina moved, so did the God of the universe...the one who does His best work in crosses and tombs. And he's showing forth life. In our kids. In the homes of the people here who persist.

Jesus is alive. He's alive in us. It is a PRIVILEGE to be his BODY.

From the heat and beauty of the Bayou...

Nathan