Life a Weblog for Young Adults

It’s 7:45 a.m., and both you and your travel mug of Folgers have made it safely through the office doors and halfway down the hall. So far, so good. Another 15 yards, and you’ll be seated at your desk, where, thankfully, your headphones await. You glance backwards; the coast is clear. Five yards to go and … ARGH! Once again your path is blocked by none other than Most Annoying Coworker Ever.

It’s 7:45 a.m., and both you and your travel mug of Folgers have made it safely through the office doors and halfway down the hall. So far, so good. Another 15 yards, and you’ll be seated at your desk, where, thankfully, your headphones await. You glance backwards; the coast is clear. Five yards to go and … ARGH! Once again your path is blocked by none other than Most Annoying Coworker Ever.

We might wonder why Jesus cares so much about our money. It seems like it’s all about the Benjamins (or Jacksons, as the case may be), and our relationship to them. Apparently Jesus is incredibly concerned about money, and as this passage concludes you see why: “No household slave can be the slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t be slaves to both God and money” (Luke 16:13).

It wasn’t until the arrival of my church’s second youth pastor that I discovered the reason our first had left. I suppose there’s wisdom in hiding potentially jarring realities from high school students, but when I heard my brother whisper, “Let’s hope this one’s not gay” under his breath, it struck me like a bus.

Something scares you. It’s not terrorism, economic recession, global warming, or gasoline prices that could hit 10 bucks per gallon by the time you’re done reading this. These things might worry you, but something else makes your palms sweat and your pulse hit triple digits: asking someone out on a date.

DayBreak—an after school program and Saturday outreach ministry—began as all good things begin. A few people saw a need that God had been preparing their hearts to meet. One of those few was Julia Harper.

In 2000, a group of people held a carnival as an outreach to the children of their community. Julia Harper was among those who had been praying and looking for a way they could minister to kids in one of the neediest communities in the city. “God was exposing me to the people He was grooming me to serve—He was preparing my heart to serve.”

On a recent trip to North Carolina I had some free time for an afternoon of climbing and hiking. Naturally, I was famished afterwards and stopped at a homey restaurant for lunch. Sadly, what seemed to promise a great, home-cooked meal was a disappointment with things like gravy out of a can and instant potatoes. I thought for sure I’d be getting the real thing!

Most people spend way too much time on mundane tasks. With a little forethought, you can expedite the routine and use leftover energy for things that really matter.

If we could, we’d all probably hire a personal assistant to help with day-to-day hassles, whether it’s yet another trip to Target for cereal and cleaning supplies or tackling that seemingly bottomless basket of laundry. But since most of us don’t have a Hollywood salary, we’re stuck taking care of life’s must-dos ourselves. With a few quick fixes, though, routine activities—from grocery shopping to bill paying—don’t have to be so time-consuming.

One Christmas, Jenny Williams sponsored a child from the Angel Tree program. Like many of us, Jenny gathered gifts for her little girl and took them to the Salvation Army. After staring at the packages for all the children, Jenny thought beyond December. She worried how Angel Tree families made it the rest of the year. Specifically, Jenny wondered how disadvantaged children celebrated birthdays — a big deal to every child. “If the parents are financially struggling during Christmas, birthdays probably present hard times as well,” she reasoned. At age 16, Jenny took these concerns to her parents who pushed her to do something about it.

It wasn’t until the next morning at church that we had a real conversation. She piped in, “Listen, I’m praying for you. I’m praying for your work situation.” I wondered how she knew that I was in the interview process or that work was a matter of prayer in my life. Standing there talking to Charlotte, I began to think, I wish I were that in tune with the Holy Spirit. I wish I were less self-absorbed and more aware of other people’s needs. At that moment I decided I needed to know more of Charlotte.