The 2 Ultimate Truths. Oct 5th, Entry #91.

Sara:  Middle schoolers can be so gross.  I mean, c'mon, they'll eat anything!  Ok, so maybe it was my idea that they eat these gross things that I won't even smell, but still, they do it.  Not only do they do it, they fight over the fact that only 5 of them get to eat the gross things.  Seriously?  Where is their sense of propriety?  Actually, I'm glad they don't have any or else my game would not work.

This game really did have a point, by the way.  Before each kid took their first bite, I asked them "do you have the courage to eat it?"  They would say yes and then eat away. ugh.  Our topic for the night was Courage.  After we attempted to explain that eating gross things does not count as courage (more like insanity) we talked about what courage really means.  We even did a little pop quiz where they had to read 2 statements and decide which action showed courage.  And just to be the annoying middle schoolers that they can be, they had to argue each point...they couldn't just pick the obvious answer. 

For example: Accepting responsibility when you mess up OR blaming others for your mistakes.  Really guys, you want to try and convince me and blaming others can be courageous in certain circumstances??  They were sure getting creative.  And Aaron and I kept looking at each other with exasperation like, "seriously?  do they really think this way?"

And I wanted to end the night talking about an almost-saint and how he stood up with courage for the right thing.  I'm just hoping I can get through the story without them making smart-alick comments.

And behold....the room transformed.  As I started to tell the story of Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro, they were silent and listening and interested.  Wow.  They even asked good questions at the end about his life.  (Learn more about him....he's awesome)

Here's the thing though....I was not surprised by anything that happened last night.  I'm not surprised that they ate gross things, or tried to sabotage our pop quiz, or said dumb things.  But I'm also not surprised that they were transfixed on the story of a man who innocently gave his life for a greater cause and died for his faith.

After 8 years of ministry I have learned, and I will stand by it forever,that there are 2 things that will always, always, always grab attention, leave an impression and change the hearts of teens:
#1 The Theology of the Body - God's plan for love and happiness in our lives
#2 The Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross - or anyone who follows Christ's example of sacrifice

These are 2 ultimate truths that can't be ignored and are written so deeply into the fabric of our hearts that every time we hear them we can't help but be struck.  I've seen this affect 5th graders and 12th graders.  Both responses are the same.  They know the truth when they see it.

Even after they have been eating something totally gross.