Investing Time in Those Younger then you

You would think that such a thing as Investing in those younger then you would be easy! But it tends to be out of peoples comfort zones. I know it can be for me. While I was looking at some old e-mails I stumbled upon one with this story:

A Vision for the Overlooked

Three years ago, David first walked through the door of a church in the middle of nowhere. His family had moved a lot with his dad's work. Like most teenagers, he was in a desperate, silent search for acceptance. Did anyone care that he existed? Why did Christians talk about love, but no one seemed to have time for him? The last four churches were just the same: everyone was polite, but no one took the time to get to know him.

It was at this church in the middle of nowhere that he met Rachel and Jeff, a very unusual brother and sister team. Rachel was 23 and Jeff was 18. A few months before, both had been convicted by how much time they spent with their circle of friends at church and how little time spent investing in the lives of younger children who could someday be leaders in the church and community. They felt they had overlooked and missed some great opportunities.

Together, they decided to push past their comfort zones. By the time 15-year old David's family came to their church, the brother and sister had developed a strategy. Jeff immediately greeted David with a smile and a handshake. While Jeff plied David with questions about his hobbies, Rachel introduced herself to Jeff's younger sister. Yeah, it was a little awkward at first to make conversation with the younger kids, but before long the friendships took root.

Over time, Rachel and Jeff made hundreds of little sacrifices to invest in the young people at their church:

• They noticed that most adults don't use children's names when they talk to them, so they made a point to always use their name when they greeted them in the hallway.
• They asked questions of their younger friends and actually listened to their answers!
• Jeff called or e-mailed his growing group of "little brothers" on their birthdays.
• Rachel bought a box of journals and gave one to each of her "adopted sisters" at Christmas.
• They reinforced the faith of David and his siblings with stories from their own lives on how God had actively protected, directed, and taught them.
• They prayed for their friends by name.
• They respected their parents and lived out what a Godly young person could look like.
• One spring, Jeff started David and a group of teenage guys memorizing Bible verses. When they finished, Jeff planned a bike trip with all of their dads to a nearby state park.
• Rachel and Jeff convinced their friends to do a Fourth of July program at a nursing home. They were all nervous to take this risk, but doing it together gave everyone courage to try something they had never done before.
• The next summer, Rachel and Jeff cleared three weeks of their lives to take a missions trip to Peru with David and his sister. David's heart was captured by the needs he saw in Peru, and now he wants to go back as a medical missionary.

David's family just moved across the country again. He's 18 now and preparing for pre-med. David's the same age now that Jeff was when he met him. David looks at people differently — and the world—because Jeff did. Instead of looking for friends, he's looking for opportunities to sacrificially invest in others.

Why did all of this happen? Because a brother and sister at a church in the middle of nowhere had vision to invest in "little kids." Together they believed in their hearts that "Whoever wants the next generation the most will win them."

- The author prays to be among the first
to turn this fiction into reality.

This is a great reminder of what is really means to invest in peoples lives; especially those younger then you. But what I see, and I'm very grateful for a sister who continually reminds me this, is that I cannot invest in younger girls lives until I've invested in my own younger siblings.
So as a challenge this week upcoming week I plan on doing something special and important every day with my two younger brothers. It may be as simple as playing cars with them or pushing them on the swings, but to them is means so much more!
I would encourage you to do the same. Not necessarily investing in younger sibling, some of you may not even have any, but I would encourage you to pick something to invest more of your time in for at least a week. It may be spending more time reading the Bible. Just take an extra 10 minutes to an hour and invest your time in something bigger then the computer, TV, or videos games. Remember Do Hard Things.
Blessings,


Note: I may post about my week a week or two after the selected time. :)