Investments

I spent Saturday night and all day Sunday with some very special people. Lee and Jeanne were my youth ministers when I was in middle school/freshman year. Lee baptized me and discipled me. Jeanne was a strong influence in all of us girls' lives. After they took another position and were led to a different church, we slowly lost touch. However, we were reunited through their music minister who traveled to Armenia in 2009. It wasn't until this weekend that we were able to see each other.

It was an incredible blessing to stand in their church and speak about God's work in my life and in Armenia. The opportunity to go back and thank people like that doesn't come around often. It was refreshing to see both of them continuing to serve Christ with joy and consistency. God's love can be felt so strongly in their presence.

During a time in which Lee was pressured to stop our Discipleship Training, he took the heat. He knew it was serious business. Unbeknown to us youth, he rejected the criticism and kept on asking us to memorize and analyze Scripture, read our Bibles daily and make notes, pray for our growth, pray for others in the youth group, and attend all discipleship classes. I'm so glad he did....

I say all that to say this: Investing in people's lives is what it's all about. We must make time to pour ourselves into others...teaching them, loving them, and sharing life with them. One of the most important things Armenians have taught me is to be relational. Investing in people is the only thing worth investing in due to the fact that souls are eternal. Money? nope. Houses? not at all. Accomplishments? Just a vapor. True accomplishments are moments spent loving, serving, and investing in men, women, and children.