God Squad ROCKED!!!

Last night was possibly the best night I have ever had at God Squad. God answers prayer! :)

Last week's God Squad was not good and actually very frustrating for me. I had a hard time getting the girls to respect me as a leader all evening. Then, when we had our small group time I couldn't get them to pay attention and very few of them shared anything at all. I honestly felt like it was a big waste of time.

So, I spent some time yesterday during the day praying for God Squad. I am not afraid to call the girls out, but I didn't want to alienate them or be angry and rude. I prayed that God would prepare the girls' hearts to share and learn, and that He would give me the words to say.

At God Squad, we are getting a crash course in the bible and Andy is doing an amazing job of going through and teaching the main points that we need to learn. We are almost finished with Genesis and last night learned about Abraham. At the end of each lesson we have several discussion questions that we are to go over in our small groups. There are always different routes that we can go, and last night God directed our path.

The conversation in our small group started with us talking about things that are hard for us to sacrifice. For some of the girls it was music, others it was their time. I don't know exactly how it happened, but we eventually worked our way around to what happens when God asks us to do something to show Him our faithfulness (like He did with Abraham and Isaac), and we choose to be unfaithful. We talked about the time that Jesus called Peter out on the water where He was walking. At first Peter was faithful and he was able to walk on water. However, he soon lost his faith, saw the waves crashing around him and started to sink. The awesome part of that story is that Jesus' reaction was to reach out His hand and pull Peter up out of the water. He didn't let Peter struggle and almost drown, He immediately pulled Him out of the water.

So, I asked the girls to tell me about a time when they felt like Peter. That's when the spirit of God came and just blew me away! Two of the girls shared about what it was like when their fathers died. Another shared how angry she was at God when her mom was taken to jail and she and her sister were taken away. Another shared how hard it was for her to not get accepted to the college she wanted to go to. One girl shared how angry she was when she had to move away from her friends and the only family she really knew...and how that anger didn't go away for a while. The last girl to share was one that I can never get to talk. She is an amazing girl, but isn't very open in our small group time. She shared how angry she had been at God when her brother went off to the Navy. I shared about how I yelled at God when my brother got sick and went into a coma. Everyone was so open and honest, it was amazing!

From there we talked about why the Lord had allowed all of those things to happen. Every single one of us could explain specifically how God had used those difficult times to draw us closer to Him. The 2 girls that lost their fathers had both turned away from the church for a while before their fathers' deaths. The loss of their fathers left them no other place to turn but back to the Lord. The girl whose mother is in jail shared how she never wanted to step foot into a church until she was so broken from the loss of her mom. The girl who had to move shared how she has seen God strengthen her through the tough time of being away. The girl who wasn't accepted to her college had decided that she didn't need church anymore when she started applying to colleges. It wasn't until she didn't get accepted that she realized she still needs God. The girl who's brother went away to the Navy learned so much about herself and her relationship with the Lord, and she is so much stronger now because of what happened. I went through a really rough time with the Lord, but came out of it finally being able to truly say in my heart, "Lord, your will be done".

But wait! There is an even happier ending to all of this! Where are these girls now? The two that lost their earthly fathers now know their heavenly father in an amazing and intimate way. The girl who's mother was in jail...her mom is getting out soon and wants to go to church with her daughter. The girl who had to move...God brought her back to an incredible family and group of friends that love her so much. The girl who's brother went away to the Navy...he finished his tour of duty, got married, and now he and his wife live just down the street from her. The girl who didn't get into college...she is taking classes at Community College next year and will then get to transfer to the school she wants. And me, well my brother survived, is healthy and getting married this summer!

Last night was amazing. God actually allowed us to see His faithfulness to each of us. Everyone was open and honest, and we saw the goodness of the Lord in each of our lives. I really pray that this openness will continue...please pray with me that God will continue to move in such amazing ways!! Thank you Jesus!