I've been their youth leader, mentor, ATM machine, big sister, nagging mother, diva runway coach extraordinaire, and friend. As a motley crew of girls from L.A., we've left our finger prints and footmarks in Osaka and Tijuana, Okinawa and Bay St. Louis, Rosarito and Tokyo, Palm Springs and Ensenada; around the world and back again, we've taken the Word of God global.
Now these girls are graduating, leaving my wing, and taking a piece of my heart with them. In Deuteronomy 30 Moses is giving his parting words to the Israelites who he's loved, nurtured, and cared for, in the desert, in captivity, in the face of disillusionment, despair, and depression. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I dispense the words of Moses who said it best:
See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his commands, decrees and laws; they you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. . . This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may love love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life... (30:15-17,20)
There are three commands in verse 15: 1. love the Lord, 2. walk in his ways, and 3. keep his commands. If we follow these uber simple instructions, we will be blessed. But we have a choice to walk away, to go back to Egypt, to choose an easier option. But the words of Moses pierce my heart to the core. If I could give one sentence to the girls I've grown to love, it would be choose life. Though we may be oppressed, though we may feel like we've been wandering for forty years, though our enemies pursue us, choose life.
Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the Way, the truth, and the Life." There for I urge you to choose life. I'm not promising a cumbaya campfire and perpetual dwelling in the Land of Milk and Honey, but when we choose life we find fulfillment for our spiritual hunger, living water when we are parched in the middle of our desert, and protection for the enemies who pursue us. Roxy, Becca, Swishy, Nikkie, Sol, Baby Chankla, Jen, Amanda, Kimbo, Celiz, Christy, Leggie and all the girls who came before and all the ones still to come, I beg of you to choose life.
I. Love. You.
15 comments:
Beautiful post. I'm a youth leader too and adore it. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else on Monday and Friday nights! :)
This is so awesome!
one of my favorite posts!!!! Beautiful!!
-j
You make me cry!! beautiful post.
Thank you B! im so blessed to have you everything is so true what you said. You made me cry. I love you so much! Thank you for taking an interest in me and loving and taking care of me always. Even when i didn't want to tell you. You truly are my best friend.
Thanks for sharing! That is one of my favorite passages. :)
ok. your post made me cry. and encouraged me all at once. gosh I totally know how that feels. but what REALLY made me cry is the response from one of your girls. ah. my fav post so far for sure.
You know how crazy everything's been for me lately and I SO needed to hear that.."choose life." I love you sooo much B! You inspire me in so many ways and I'm so proud to call you MY leader, MY mentor, MY friend, MY inspiration. Thank you for always being there. Thank you for always listening, loving, and caring. I love you..beyond words. <33
P.S. I'm officially out of school so we need to have our marathon/sleepover. haha ;]
All of these girls are beautiful and I am excited to see where the Lord will lead them. I will pray that they will always keep their eyes on JESUS. You are a great example Bi!
:) Lisa
B,
Thank you so much for all that you have done for my family and I! You are such an amazing person and I hope I turn out half as good of a friend, mentor, teacher, sister and SUPERwomen that you are. I love you so much you don't even know. You inspire me to be the person I know I am intended to be. And you are the one person I know (besides my parents) who always lends an ear with no judgement. God has blessed you with so many gifts and talents. And it is so awesome to see you use them in so many ways. Whether it be you and your mind bobbling discernment or helping us rebels see things in a new light. I love you! I pray that as years pass we will still remain close in the Lord and with each other. You have taught and done so much for me. And if I began to write about all that you have taught and done for me it would take a lifetime to fill out. Oh did I say I love you? ;) Yes, I do love Bianca. I do, I do!
<3 Love Beccaboo :D
wow. seeing what these young ladies have to say about YOU makes me tear up. you are so special in SO many ways. how do you do it??!
That was all God...
Bianca, from all that I have read, it seems that you submitted yourself to God and let him do amazing work through you. Through Christ, you touched many souls. You are, in my opinion, a great example for any woman of God to see and look up to. Continue to let God transform you, mold you, and shape you into an even more extraordinary women then you already are.
You rock Bianca!
makes me think of my girls! love them...love you!
Hello Bianca!
I am new on here and found you by mistake but so glad I did! You would love my friend, Jennifer Curtet'. She traveled to Africa with us and spoke to thousands of hungry listeners. You two have so much in common. Glad to see you are using your talents to glorify Him!!! Bless you, huge!!!
I know its been like four months since you've posted this blog, but I stumbled upon it today. I'd like to take the time to thank you for everything you've helped me with. It means the world to me. You're so awesome! I hope that one day I can be like you. Thank you for all you do for me. I love you Bianca!
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