Where God Leads

Taking the youth out during Spring Break

Now with teenagers, how you get in touch with them is always a hit or miss. You have to deal with wifi versus no wifi, is their phone number working, do they receive texts and if they do, what app do they actually use to communicate with versus what their parents think they use. So setting up plans can sometimes be challenging.

As I was pulling up to the high school to spend time with a young guy I was mentoring, it dawned on me that I hadn’t gotten a message from him since the day before. This meant that I didn’t have any way to get a hold of him to confirm. Turns out that, little to my knowledge, the Lord had a plan for that time anyways. I decided to go out and look for him and instead ran into three of our young friends waiting to be picked up. We went around the school until we ended back at the same place - on the curb next to the portable. One by one they got picked up by their rides until it was just Carly and I. It became obvious her ride was never coming, she was just trying to save face with her friends. The wind had picked up and it started to spit rain so, wanting to spare her the 40-minute walk back to her house I asked if she wanted a ride, to which she gratefully accepted.

There were fresh cuts on her arm hidden under her sweater from her day at school. We started talking while I was driving. Today had been harder than usual and she went on to tell me she had spent over an hour sitting in the corner of a hallway, weeping.

As she wept, people just walked by - friends, teachers, even counsellors. A quick glance before they kept on moving. Does this remind you of a certain parable you’ve heard before?

I’m so thankful that the Lord put me in that position on that day. So often when you’re in these moments you know without a doubt that the Lord has placed you in that exact spot for that particular reason. 

We continued to talk and I got to continue to listen and before dropping her off, she even let a few very rare smiles show.

I found out days later from my coworker that Carly had told her I had a part in saving her life that day. She no longer knew what to do with the pain but in that moment had someone who genuinely cared and listened.

All of this from some ordained miscommunication and fallen through plan. I just happened to be there. All I can do within my own power is to be faithful to the Lord and keep showing up in the places he’s prepared before me and pray that I can serve Him by serving others well.

- Jon Pue