Who are the people in your life who have made a positive impact on you?
For me, I have several, but I wanted to highlight one particular couple today. :)
Picture caption: Our teen group stopping at the salt mines on the way to Mexico.
When I was growing up in a small town in the Midwest, I was apart of a group called Teens for Christ. My amazing youth leaders were named Larry and Marsha. I went to their house every Wednesday night, went on three different mission trips with them, and sometimes to their monthly gatherings called The Edge.
My first mission trip was to Mexico, and other years we went to Mississippi and Arkansas. I can still remember Larry waking us up super early in the mornings with his joyful singing and a smile on his face, ready to start the new day. He would say, "no breakfast till you've had your devotionals." He taught us how to always put Christ first in our day, and how He was the most important.
Larry was very bold in his faith and would strike up a conversation with people in the grocery store and asked if they knew Jesus. He wasn't ashamed to proclaim the Gospel of Christ, and he loved each one of the teenagers he lead.
His wife Marsha loved people through her teaching math at the local middle school, helping with homework before youth group, cooking delicious meals, and mentoring teens right alongside her husband. She was always gentle, kind, and understanding.
I remember one evening we were sitting around their living room after dinner and Larry talked boldly about purity and honoring Christ with our love lives. He encouraged people at their weddings for following Christ and the plan He had for their relationships. He talked about forgiveness and repentance.
Although Larry is no longer with us on earth, his legacy of love and boldness for Christ lives on. I think about Larry and Marsha often, and even have two characters in one of my novels based off this wonderful couple.
May the Lord bless our youth leaders who work so hard and love on the teens!!! Your work matters and will carry on forever.
Who are the people in your life that have made a positive impact? Comment below!