The other day I got the news that my youth pastor has stage 1 non smokers lung cancer. He is still a youth pastor in NOVA. He was getting ready to take a 3 month sabbatical, (trust me, time well earned) to ride his motorcycle and visit his kids. Before he was to leave he got the news. A week of tests and such, things I know all to well, were done and he has surgery in a few days. My heart rejoiced at the fact that they found it so early, knowing how it feels to get the good news that it hasn't spread and that it was caught early.
I guess I am here to say that this is a man who has dealt with some great kids and some really tough kids. Jim is a guy who never judged anyone! Not even the worst of the worst. Instead, he encouraged, loved and mostly called you out when you needed to be called out. His love was tough but it was real. Every teen that has been loved and challenged by Jim knows he cares. I doubt Jim knows how many lives he has changed. When I was in high school first going to the youth group with Jim, he would call me "the swimmer" because he couldn't remember my name. Over the years he taught me to read my bible, study God's word, put God and others before myself. In college, I slipped away from all of that. I still had my faith, but it was on the back burner, the way back burner. My point is that the foundation Jim helped me build in the Lord is what eventually brought me back. Back to a real, true and trusted relationship with God. There is no way I could have made it through all I have been through without my relationship with God. I would have crumbled and broken long ago. But here I stand, strong in my faith, strong in my hope, knowing God is bigger! I attribute all of that to the foundation Jim helped me build. We all have an opportunity to impact others, are you taking the opportunities you are being given to help mold people, or are you walking away? I hope I am taking the opportunities put before me. I hope I can make a difference in lives, in my children's lives, in the lives of friends, family, those who work with JT. Jim has impacted my life in such a way that I am a different person. I am thankful that he took God's calling and has put himself out there to love and cherish so many kids.
My prayer is that you all will join me in praying for Jim. For praising God the cancer was found early, that it hasn't spread. Pray for his surgery and recover, pray he is gifted with the peace that passes all understanding. Pray for his wife, for her peace, for her comfort.
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