winning hearts

This morning, when I went to go pick up one of my former students and his brothers for church, a cousin was in the living room and one of the boys asked if he could come with us. I said he could, of course, and we rushed out the door.

I mean it when I said we rushed. I was running late this morning and when I got to their house nobody was up and ready to go. On the way to church I found out this cousin was FOURTEEN (I do not have any idea what to do with teenagers- and he looked like he was about ten so it caught me even more off guard) so I kind of felt like the pressure was ON to make sure he was comfortable and had fun.

Teenagers really get it. This one experience at church could be his very first and it could potentially change his entire life.

By the time we showed up to church and dropped the littlest brother off, the service was definitely going. Everyone was standing, the seats looked almost completely full, and the only chairs I could see were in the very front row. I can't handle the standing and looking around for seats- especially for three of us- so I just went and sat in the front row. (Inside I was hating this so much. The front row is just SO close.)

So we sat. I didn't know what the cousin was going to think but my other little guy is always sleeping within the first 10 minutes so surely we couldn't be much of a distraction. It was the middle of worship and it was LOUD- and they were LOUDER. They talked- and talked- and talked. During songs, during prayer- no matter how many times I tried to "shh!" them or tell them to whisper. They were talking about silly putty and about their family and about ninja turtles- so much talking. After I would "shh!" them, they would get quiet for about a minute and then within a few minutes I was shushing them again.

(Side note: I grew up in churches where you DID NOT break rules. You came in quietly, sat down quietly, stood up at the right time, sang the songs nicely, sat down and listened quietly, and then left quietly. You just didn't break the rules. If you did, it wouldn't be out of place for someone to say something to you.)

I noticed that there were some older people behind us-- about the age of the boys' grandparents-- and I started to get nervous. What were they thinking? They're probably so annoyed. They hate that we're sitting in front of them. I bet they can't even focus. They're probably going to say something to the boys. Will the boys be scared to come back to church when they do say something? What will they think? All of these thoughts were swarming through my head while I tried to listen and keep them quiet and entertained.

I continued to try my best to keep them quiet while inwardly awaiting the inevitable disappointment from the group behind us.

As we gathered our things to leave, the older gentleman sitting directly behind the boys began talking to them. "Boys, just want you to know that I was so impressed by you this morning. I'm just so glad you're here. I can tell just by looking at ya that you're both men of God. Did you know that you make Him so proud? You do. He is so thankful that you came to worship Him this morning and so am I.."

Can I even rightly tell you what this did to my heart? Their faces. They walked differently, stood up straighter, had a real, genuine smile. The cousin pranced into his youth class without even knowing a soul- couldn't have been happier to be there.

Today Beltway North won those boys' hearts. They left feeling seen, noticed, important, and loved. There is nothing else that I could've dreamed for them.

I know reverence in a church setting is important. I know. But to an eight year old and a fourteen year old who have no experience in church at all, love speaks louder. Kindness encourages and empowers and gentleness brings joy and peace. They will not walk into church next week (or hopefully ever) concerned about performing a certain way or acting perfectly because they're at church. They'll walk in feeling loved, known, and important.

That kind man won some hearts today- mine included.

(This pic is from a few weeks ago because there was obviously no sleeping today.. hah!)