Hopeful Hearts Ministry

It is mid May and H O T!  If this is any indication of what the summer will be like I’m pretty certain I’ll melt away by July.  I hosted a Young Adult/Young Professional Pool Party this afternoon and had about 30 show up.  There were quite a few new faces, so it was heartwarming to see everyone get to know one another.

Personally, I’m exhausted.  😉  There is so much I could reflect over in regards to the various stories I heard from each young adult.  So many were just coming off finals and trying to find summer jobs.  Others were discussing their plans for their upcoming final year in college.  And even others who had been in the work force were just happy to sit and chill.  I can relate. 🙂

But beyond the surface stories I was asked to listen to a few others that were struggling with more.  One just found out his cousin was murdered!  Yet he couldn’t sit at home and stew over all the possibilities of who it could be to do such a horrible act.  Another (actually more than one) were frustrated with being single and feeling as if  the ‘search’ was a lost cause.  And finally another just needed to be surrounded by others because of a deep struggle with depression.

Underlying the fun in the sun there was so much I wanted to wrap my arms around and take away so they could truly relax.  I want to take away the pain, the struggle and the uncertainty but I know that they have to go through it all in order to recognize what strength they have.  The one statement that broke my heart the most was when I said, “I’ll definitely be praying for you.”  And the response:  “I’m not so sure God is in this anymore.”

🙁

When I tried to talk this one through I was met with resistance and a downright refusal to listen.  Instead, the pasted smile went back on the face and everything went back to normal. But this person didn’t get by me without me saying, “You may not have the faith to believe in the prayers but I am saying them for you anyway because I know He will respond.”

*sigh*

All in all these little snippets of finding out what was truly going on in their life was short and broken out through the day so it wasn’t as much of a downer as it might sound. 🙂