The Week That Changed My Life: Finding Jesus as a Young Teenager

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I realize that is a pretty loaded title that sets up some high expectations. In an attempt to be intellectually honest, I had to think that one through to really evaluate if it was actually true or if it was just a catchy title. But the honest answer is yes, it’s true. That week changed my life.

Here’s the thing. I don’t really remember exactly which week it was. To be honest, I don’t even remember what month it was. But I do remember what year it was – it was 1987. So if any math wizards are trying to compute, I’ll save you the trouble: I was 13.

And the reason I’m thinking about that week is because this week, right now, reminds me so much of that week.

This week, at our school, we have something called Spiritual Emphasis Week. For those of you unfamiliar with Christian schools, it basically is a week where we take about 4-5 periods a day, for the whole week, and have chapel with our secondary student body: singing worship songs, inviting in different speakers, praying and giving our kids time to experience God in a way that is outside of their usual, chapel experience. A little time and space to encounter God without some of the usual boundaries.

And without fail, this week always reminds me of the Spiritual Emphasis Week I had in 7th grade. I don’t really remember too many details about that week. I have no idea who spoke; I don’t remember any of the topics; I don’t remember any of the songs we sang.

But I remember encountering God in a way I never had before. I remember feeling His presence in worship like I was meeting Him for the first time…and was loving Who I was encountering. I remember chapel just running over into the next period….and the next – because as a whole student body, we were just swept up in being near God.

But as great at that was – and though it played a part, that wasn’t really what changed my life. It was on the bus on the way home.

At about that time, I had been in Christian school for almost 2 years. When my parents enrolled me in 6th grade, I went kicking and screaming. I was angry that they were taking me away from my friends, I was angry that I wasn’t getting to go to the middle school in my district, I was angry that I was missing the ‘trip’ to the new school for orientation and lockers.

In spite of my displeasure, I was a fairly obedient kid, and I knew better than to buck my parents. Even when I was interviewed to be admitted, I had the chance to blow it and get my way. They asked me why I wanted to come to that school. I bit my tongue to keep the words, ‘I don’t’ from gushing out of my mouth. Instead, I said nothing. The interviewers answered for me: “Because your parents want you to?” I nodded, and that was that. I was accepted. Honestly? Nothing short of God’s Providence.

I had been a good kid before going to Christian school, but certainly, I lacked a some depth and understanding. I did the obedient Christian things because my parents believed this (and I’d get in trouble if I didn’t). I did them because it was the right thing to do – and Lord knows I was really good at doing the right thing (even if it was for the wrong reason). I didn’t like to disappoint.

But something changed that week. Something clicked.

On my way home, I was on my bus, kind of taking all of this in, thinking all of this over. I remember exactly where I was on our bus route – on Southaven Ave, right near the red corner house that I loved so much. And as I mulled all this over, right there, as the bus turned from Southaven to Oregon Ave, I said to myself, ‘Yup. I believe this. I am making a commitment to follow Jesus, for the rest of my life.’

And that commitment made by a 7th grader on the bus ride home during Spiritual Emphasis Week stuck. I’ve had my struggles, for sure, but I’ve never looked back.

This memory is always running through my mind as we have this week at our school. I wonder what God is doing in their lives that will stick. I wonder who, after this week, will make a commitment that he will never look back from. It’s not too lofty to expect that. I know, firsthand, that God can do that.

Now, I know there can be a lot of emotion, a lot of positive peer pressure – because everyone else is doing it – a lot of hype. I know that just about on cue, the middle schoolers will huddle with their friends praying (sort of)(we teachers affectionately call this ‘gerbiling’), come up to the front in packs, sing with lifted hands and eyes open and looking all around. I know that some are young and might not totally get it.

But that’s okay. Some will. And for those who don’t, they can still look back on this week as a time when, although maybe it didn’t change their lives, it was still a time they genuinely encountered God and felt His presence, maybe for the first time.

So why is this the week that changed my life? Well, that decision has pretty much set up every other decision that followed. It dictated where I went to college, who I dated and didn’t date, my career choice, my involvement in missions, the places I’ve traveled, the friends I’ve made, the man I married. That choice led up to literally every other circumstance that has been life-altering – all the other ‘big ones.’ Had I not made that one choice during that one week, I don’t think anything in my life would have unfolded as it did.

Scary to think that the fate of my life rested on the decision of a 7th grader on her bus-ride home.

[I’m sure that Someone a bit more brilliant and wise and sovereign had a little something to do with it.]

This is a big week for us. This is when I love my job the most – being a part of a school where this can happen. I’ll take this (even with the smaller paycheck) any day of the week.

A lot is hanging in the balance, probably for more kids and in more ways than I even realize. But if God can make it ‘click’ for me, He can make it click for them. I sincerely believe He can make this a week that literally changes their lives, too.

I’m praying that they have such a genuine, transforming encounter with God that they make the choice to follow Him forever. And never look back.

{Photo Credit: Paul Walsh}