Footprints in the Snow

People may not believe this, but I think about things, a lot and the other day as I was walking up the road I could see all the other peoples footprints imprinted in the snow, each set of footprints having their own specific direction. Some went this way, some went the other, whilst some just went completely against the stream. This got me thinking.

Are our Christian lives not like that? We all have our separate paths to take in our walk in faith. There were some footprints that just stopped suddenly and then went off one direction. I pictured this as a person who is unsure about whether to take the path or not or to keep going with the flow and being pushed along by the stream. There were also foot prints going against this stream, this made me think of the battle that, as Christians, we are fighting. Whether we know it or not. It isn't a physical battle, but a spiritual battle against evil.

This linked in a bit with my life. The intern in my church recently asked me if I wanted to take more of a leadership role in what some may call "Sunday School" but for people the same age as me. I answered straight away with a response of "Aye", or if some of you don't know, it means yes. He then said to me about doing talks for it which really hit a nervous spot in me. I have never done a talk for any sort of Christian youth so I'm not exactly sure about how to go about it.

So this whole week my thought process seems to always go back to the subject of becoming a leader in the youth, it's really been a big thing to me, especially since I'm only 14, which I believe is still very young to be becoming a leader, even if to other people it seems like something small and everyday but in my mind it is a big step. I've been praying about it and I "facebooked" the Pastor of the Amadeo Vineyard in Arizona, Ben Cloud, and said to him about how I was a bit nervous about it (among other things). His reply was exactly what I needed to hear. It may have been simple but it hit home.

"Take the plunge - jump into servant-leadership!"

Just those few words were enough to inspire me to get into "servant-leadership". Just hope that when I do the talk that I'll say what the guys need to hear and that it will inspire them to do things that are out of the box to them.

It also linked in as I am fighting a battle against my basic instinct that makes me want to back out of doing leadership, but if it's what God is leading me to then I should just do it. If I didn't do it and it was my path, would I be defying God's will? I believe that Ben's statement can also be true with a lot of other parts of Christian life as we should just "Take the plunge" and "jump" head-first into any opportunity that arises.