I love my youth group. I have a good group of friends, love my leaders and pastors, and just feel like it has a very positive and fun vibe. I come every week that I am able to and love going to the extra events whether that be fun youth nights, fall retreat, church camp, or mission trip.
Last week, we began Hispanic Heritage Month here in the United States. As we enter this time of celebrating Hispanic and Latino culture, I want to share a key moment in my own learning regarding what it means to be a multiethnic church comprised of brothers and sisters in Christ from different cultural backgrounds.
You aren’t supposed to be jealous, but I’ve always been jealous of big, close-knit families. There’s always been something so cool to me about big families in movies, books or real life. The dynamics between siblings. The different relationships between each child with each parent. The traditions the whole family takes part in each year. I gravitate towards big families.
We’ve all either heard the saying or said it ourselves: “I’m the black sheep in my family.” The phrase has inspired many a book, song and even a movie. Besides representing a disreputable member of a group, the phrase “black sheep” holds more meaning. Centuries ago, black sheep were considered unlucky or worthless because their wool could not be dyed. The shades of gray, brown and black remained true to their color no matter what dye the wool was immersed in.
Decisions, decisions. Starting as soon as we get up in the morning, our lives are full of decisions. As Christians, we are familiar with decision making because we were invited to make a decision for Christ. Jesus was crucified, died and was buried, but then he was resurrected. We had to decide whether we believed that or not.