Just One Word

For the word of God is alive and active…Hebrews 4:12

 It’s pretty accurate to predict eye rolls and some quiet groans when I happily announce a writing assignment to the middle lovelies.  Recently I was met with exactly that as I explained to the Young Disciple group that they would be writing a little something for me about the mark they will leave behind at St. Mary School.  The assignment was to look back on their year in the group and evaluate what kind of legacy their words, actions and attitudes would leave behind.  I wanted them to honestly look at their experience as a disciple in the school and write something for me.  Then the assignment took and unexpected twist when I handed out 2” by2” inch cards for the assignment.  The final instruction was that their writing could be done using only one word.  Some were thrilled and I heard one lovely say, “For real, we only have to write one word for the assignment; that’s awesome!”  I assured him that he was correct but instructed him to choose the word wisely.  As they sat to think, the task proved to be a little trickier than they thought.

As I was reading through their cards I was both surprised and impressed.  Their answers were very honest.  I got lots of great answers like kindness, faithfulness, honesty, patience and funny.  To be honest those were the words I was expecting but then I came to some that caught me by surprise.  One said “Again” and another said “Disappointing” and the third that caught my attention was the one that said, “Un-noticeable”.    There was some great discussion with some of these beautiful young disciples.  The ones that provided those last three answers all admitted they wish they had tried harder and been more consistent.  They reported having done some great things for others but they didn’t do all they could have and they didn’t do all Jesus had called them to do.  I was so inspired and impressed with their honesty.

When we meet the last time in early June, I will remind them that we can’t wait to be disciples.  The world and our Heavenly Father need us to start now.  We can’t wait until we get ourselves in perfect order, or until our schedule lightens up or until we’ve rested up a bit.  It’s time now, the world needs people with a passion to love and serve the Lord today and if we don’t get started, we aren’t going to be able to leave much of a mark in his honor.  So, go ahead…pick just one word to describe the impact of  your discipleship. 

A Seed To Plant:  Prayerfully think back over the past year and write down just one word to describe your discipleship at home, school and in your community.  Do you need a new word?  If you do, take it to prayer and pick a new word to motivate you.

Blessings on your day!