Don't be a Cynic

If you read the last post a few weeks ago and aren't someone I speak to on a regular basis then you may be wondering what the heck happened. Daniel and I were told we could no longer be Young Life leaders in our area. (Don't worry there was no moral impropriety involved.) As you can imagine, this has been an extremely difficult time for the both of us and the word "devastated" from the last post sums up our reaction best.

However we are moving forward now and continuing to live out our calling of loving high school kids, their parents, administrators, and the community we live in. Before we officially move on to unofficial ministry without titles, I thought it best to share this clip of Conan O'Brien's final speech when being forced to leave not only the Tonight Show, but NBC altogether. Daniel played this clip for me and I cannot believe how well it articulates our feelings.

If you want to know exactly how we are feeling about the situation, simply listen to Conan's words.



-Daniel became a part of Young Life at age 14; I got involved at age 16. We have been involved for half of our entire lifetimes.

-If our next "gig" is hanging out with kids in a 7-11 parking lot instead of a multi-million dollar camp property, we will find a way to make it fun. Though we'd prefer to do it at a camp with our high school friends.

-To those of you who have reached out in support, we cling to your kindness and will remember it always. When we felt like rejected missionaries without a home, your support showed us we still have a place in our community.

-We are not cynical. We are grateful for every moment we got to be a part of God's work inside of this organization. The experiences, conversations, tears, and laughter we have shared will always be remembered fondly and with longing. We are grateful for all the lives we have been invited into and will continue to share relationships with the young and old from all the different communities we were able to be a part of. (Go Northmen! Go Jays! Go Hawks! Go Titans!)

If we were to become cynical, we could ruin what God has in store. I read this proverb the day before Daniel showed me the Conan clip, "Cynics desecrate beauty." We believe God still has beautiful things in store for us, so instead of spending time looking backward and possibly missing what's ahead, we are looking forward toward that beauty.