Bemidji Faith Story

Stop:

So to begin this time lets focus on your breathing and try the box exercise, do that 2-3 times 

Box exercise: There is a breathing exercise that we have done in youth group a few different times to calm our brains, bodies and spirits.  I don’t know if it has a name but we just call it the box exercise.   The idea is to take your figure and trace a box in the air.  And as you trace you breath.  So as you trace the top of the box you inhale, for a count of 5, as you trace the side you exhale for a count of 5, trace the bottom inhale, side exhale.

Listen

Colossians 3:12-17

12 As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Reflect

Twice a year I take high school students to Bemidji for a mini service trip.  We leave on a Thursday and come home on Saturday.  Our trip is always on a Friday when high school students in school district 196 have Friday off.  We do this so that we can serve at a school in Ponemah, MN which is on the Red Lake reservation.  I have a friend who is a Kindergarten teacher there.  We also serve at a homeless shelter designed for families and the local food shelf.  It is a full, exhausting weekend.  The service is great and rewarding but I think the part that most stands out, the part that generates the most conversation and reflection from students is listening to the stories of the people we meet.  In the simplest terms it is their faith story, how their faith calls them to the vocation they are in, why it keeps them there and how it sustains them.  We hear stories of I am called to feed people; I stay here because these people accept me, accept my brokenness; I am here because of an experience I had 15 years ago that I am reminded of everyday.  It felt like an invitation from God to lead this organization.

These stories aren’t just impulsive reflections.  They are shaping, defining, chewed on, celebration of life stuff.  It is almost as if they cannot not do what they do.  And it has come from a life of listening, praying, discerning, risking.  Hearing their stories, listening to them share the vulnerability, recognizing that our hosts are knowing their why, has given our high school students greater wonderment and mystery into what is God doing in their lives and where is God calling them to be.

Pray

God you know us better than we know ourselves, help us to listen to discover the life you have called us to live.

Challenge

I know this seems like a monumental task, but I want to encourage you to spend some time reflecting, writing your faith story and then share it with someone(s).