Loving Kids When They Fail

This youth worker’s story really resonates with me. The focus of this video is on adolescents and teens but I think it is true of so many people. When we make mistakes we want to run and hide but this does not solve our problems. I know I need to be reminded about the grace God has for me in the situations when I screw up. What is our response as the church, as role models, as mentors to young people when they screw up? Do we say “I told you so?” or maybe “What did you think would happen?” I think the much more appropriate and much more useful for students to have people in their life who pursued them and reminded them about God’s love, truth, and grace in their life.

I am making it my resolution to respond to my students in these ways that provide more of an example of Christ’s love. I hope that in the process of responding to my students in this way that I will also be reminded of these truths of God in my life as well.

Superman of the Danube

This story about a man in Belgrade, Serbia has been making the rounds on the internet and in newspapers. I first saw the story in the Star Tribune while having a cup of coffee. I found this article to be a little more in depth and informative however.

What strikes me about the story is the first time the man saved someone it was purely by chance but since then it has taken more focused effort. He is now aware that people may want to jump from this particular bridge and so he is constantly watching for people trying to commit suicide while still going about his daily life. He does what he can by being aware and responding to situations when they arise. He asks for nothing in return and just wishes to give people a second chance at life.

How similar is this to those of us in the helping professions? We often get started in our field by simply being present for some situation and then we become aware of similar situations all around us. We start to become acquainted with what to look for and the next thing you know we are trying to gather as much information about people in these situations as we possibly can. We become finely attuned to the warning signs and then hopefully we act. I say hopefully because I know not all situations smack us in the way that hearing someone scream and thrash about in a cold river might compel us to act. I know that I need to keep my eyes on the landscapes around me so I am more aware and ready to act the next time I am faced with an opportunity to help someone.

My encouragement to be ever more vigilant is also tempered with the reality that we cannot be present or available at every moment someone might need. This man in Belgrade could only save about half the people who had jumped. We cannot beat ourselves up over the ones we could not help but only celebrate with the ones we can help. Only we need to make sure we don’t expect or need to be thanked for our efforts. We can simply take joy in knowing we have done what we can to the best of our abilities and in light of the opportunities presented to us.