We had our Christmas party at GYC this week. We had a quiz involving music and famous people. It was a lot of fun, but it made me feel rather old. And I'm not old! But these kids were all born since 2000, so they were having trouble guessing or giving clues about people who were famous before then(or even after). The girls on my team didn't even know who Brad Pitt was! And for one clue they said, "Umm, He's an astronaut!".... It was George Clooney. It just reminds me how 12 year olds get younger every year.
We had some trouble with the TYC this week with this one little boy who has become quite infamous in the neighborhood. He goes places just to cause trouble it seems. He never seems to be in school, and is often seen running rampant through the neighborhood with friends with reputations not much better than his own. But he almost always shows up to our youth club. If he finds out that it's Thursday, he will be out in front of the building up to an hour early just waiting to be let into club. He's often told to leave in the first 20 minutes due to his bad behavior, but the fact that he shows up so early so that he doesn't miss it makes me think that he almost wants to be better. You wouldn't be able to tell that from his actions once he's in the club, but he if he knows it's a Thursday, he is outside, just waiting.
I don't know much about his home life, but I do know that he's rarely there. I don't think he's had any positive male role model in his life. So there he is, making it up as he goes or following whatever examples of men he is shown via TV or music. I know I've gone on a bit of a rant here about this boy, and I might sound a bit annoyed at this troublesome child (and I might be), but my heart hurts for him. He is so lost with no one better than himself to follow or to set up rules for him. I know it seems as if kids hate rules because they like to break them so much, but in reality, without rules there is no structure, no guidelines to follow. Then they are left with no boundaries and feeling insecure. With rules, they know what they can and cannot do, and they learn how to be successful in life.
Please pray for these little boys of 11 and younger who are lacking that structure and Godly influence in their lives. We all love them and want to welcome them with open arms, but with their behavior and language as it currently is, it's not possible to keep the club in good order while having them in there. Please pray that their spirits will settle so some groundwork can be laid for good relationships with these boys. We want to help them, but you need a mutual trust and friendship first.
Thank you for all of your prayers and support. I am truly blessed by everyone who's given and is praying. God will make a way to build these relationships, so please join us in the prayer that this will happen soon.
It's interesting to me that this boy is having struggles at the age of 11 or 12. I have been observing the stories of many recently who tell of making decisions at that same age that where things went downhill for a lot of years before finding love, friendship and peace with themselves and God.
ReplyDeleteThank you for caring for this boy, you may be a vital part of his life decisions for good things to come. I pray for wisdom for you and your colleagues.