You Are A Part of Our Team

YouthHOPE is different because you are part of our team. We live in a performance based society. What you do, and how well you do it seem to define your worth as a student and then as an employee. It seems like we are constantly being graded based on our abilities to perform. With that we can subconsciously bring home a personal report card at the end of the day. And what do we tend to focus on in that report card? Areas we fall short in of course.

Growing up I always tried to fit the “American Dream” model. I wanted to perform the best and get the best “grades” in everything: school, work, and life. In this I let others define who I should be according to the standards they set. I wanted to be successful, but I thought in order to be successful in the eyes of others, I had to continue to meet their expectations. So often I would hear teachers and counselors tell me that good grades and doing a lot of good things looks great on a resume. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with wanting to work at everything with all of you heart. However, for me, in doing all of those good things I actually started to lose who I was. Who I was becoming looked great on paper, but I lost touch with what actually gave me life, outside of pleasing others.

This video talks about living in our strengths, but I want to take that a step further. What about living in our passions and desires? In Psalm 37:4 it says “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Wow, what an incredible thought!!! God actually places his desires and passions for you on your heart. So why not live out our lives in our passions?? If you focus on your passions most of the time you feel more engaged, productive, and alive. It comes naturally because it is instinctive within you. In this video it says that less than 2 out of 10 of us actually get to play to our strengths.

As we grow we don’t change, we actually become more of who we are meant to be. You are going to have the same desires and strengths at age of 6 as you will at 66. When I was young I loved to write, play competitively with others, and listen & tell stories. I still do. Now God is using those strengths for his kingdom. He has channeled the gifts he has given me to reach youth with the Gospel. When I was trying to look successful in the eyes of the world, I had the perfect resume to be a Physical Therapist. However, I have never felt more alive seeking the passions and desires God has placed on my heart.

Most of us when we are hired are told what our job description is and how we should fit into that role. When I had an interview with YouthHOPE to become an apprentice, they didn’t ask me to fill a role. Instead, they asked me what I am truly passionate about and what I thought I could bring to the team. “YouthHOPE will not try to make you different,” Aaron Arnold said, “rather YouthHOPE is different because you are part of our team.” As part of this team, I get to share my strengths with the group every day. I truly am starting to understand more about what it means to be on a team that is the body of Christ. Each part is so important, and I shouldn’t try to be anything other than what I already am. In this video it talks about what great teams look like; they are “well rounded because each of the players isn’t.” Each one of the players has a part to play that is important to rounding out the strength of the team. I want to be a part of that team. That is what YouthHOPE is. They are a team focused on eternity, and being an avenue for people to follow the desires God places on their hearts.

Instead of a performance based society, what would it look like for all of us to live in the free flowing rhythm of grace? I challenge you to stop letting others define who you should be. Stop getting lost in trying to be the perfect resume. Look around you today. Look at God’s creation. You will see that we serve the God of order and not chaos: He made flowers to make things beautiful, he designed caterpillars to turn into butterflies, and he knows that light and water when mixed together produce the promise of a rainbow. Creation reflects its creator. You can reflect your creator in the way He made you to reflect Him. As a child we know instinctively what our strengths are, and tend to enjoy living in our strengths. I think that is one of the mysteries of why children tend to teach us so much as we get older. Maybe that is a glimpse into what it means to have child-like faith.