Interesting week...

Several nights ago I spent some time out watching the stars. It was a beautifully clear night, the night of the Perseid Meteor Shower. I didn’t see many shooting stars, but I was amazed by the vast expanse of the stars. You can’t help but look at the stars and feel so small.

Tonight I was driving our teenage boys back to their biological parents’ homes and there was a thunderstorm surrounding us. We watched lightning dance across the sky for 30-40 miles around us. As the lightning bolts zigzagged down and the expanse of the storm enveloped us, I felt small.

Monday we received word that a teenager we have known for 7 years was tragically killed. Details are still sketchy, but it is a horrible situation. Thursday and Friday we were privileged to spend some time in a neighborhood in San Carlos. We have been spending time with those kids for more than 7 years. On Thursday several of the teenage boys stopped by to chat. They talked about drinking and partying. My heart broke as they joked about the emptiness they were chasing. We talked a little about the boy who was killed. One boy callously said, “That’s life. We are all going to die.” Earlier that day I talked with a close friend who was given until Tuesday to be out of his house. He was broken as he looked at his family being homeless in 5 days. On Friday a good friend of ours had the opportunity to dialog with a teenage girl. This girl shared her desire to have someone to talk with. She feels like she has no support, no boundaries and no one who cares.

This week I have been overwhelmed with the pain and emptiness that surrounds San Carlos. It makes me feel so small and so hopeless. How can we even make a dent in the darkness? How can we help these precious children see that there is more to life than what they can see? How can we give them hope when a teenager dying is just another day?

The truth is that we are small. We are just a speck in this universe. However, there is a God who made the stars and knows them by name. He holds the lightning bolts in His hands and they obey His voice. How can we make a dent in the darkness? We can’t, but there is a God who is real, who is powerful, who is filled with love and compassion, who can. I’m small, but He is big!

tory