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We spent this past week at Christ in Youth (CIY) camp with 630 high school students from our church. There's so much about this week that was AMAZING. I wish I could adequately express what happened this past week and how God MOVED in all of our lives, but I'm afraid my words would fall short- very short. But, I do have a few things that God challenged me on and showed me so I figured I'd try to at least get those written down!

This week I had the privilege of leading a group of 10 girls. It's always a daunting task for me because I think of how important, how eternal their understanding of God is and that's a big weight. Good thing I'm not the one carrying it! As I listened to each of their stories one thing stood out over and over. Pain, pain and more pain. I listened to these girls explain what had happened in their short lives and watched their faces reflect the pain of their choices and others' choices. My heart broke for what these young girls had endured. And this isn't a group of outwardly broken kids... they "look" normal from the world's perspective. But here's a super short collective list of what these girl's have experienced in their short lives....

Drugs- lots of them illegal and legal- (side note... I think percocet should be illegal/banned/outlawed)
Alcohol- one had already been through a "rehab" program
Sexual impurity
Sexual molestation
Parents with addictive habits (drugs and alcohol)
And on and on and on....

But the thing that struck me most was how almost every life story started... "When I was X years old my parents got a divorce."

9 out of 10 girls in my group come from a "broken" home.

1 out of 10 has both biological parents at home modeling a "normal" marriage relationship.

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It makes me cry just writing it. If you are married fight, fight, fight for the health of your marriage. It's the best gift we can give our kids. I've read it all before- stay married, put your marriage before your kids, don't let the devil have control of your marriage. But until this week it was words on a piece of paper. Now it's real to me, very real. I've seen first hand what a broken home does to a child. A sweet, innocent child. And it's ugly, very ugly. Don't get me wrong, these girls made their own choices and they know that. However, when they tell their story and the defining starting point is divorce it's a pretty telling tale.

Ladies, let's love and respect our husbands the way God has called us to do. Let's show our children what marriage should look like- not perfection but excellence. Let's forgive our men when they wrong us. Let's give our kids the best gift possible- a model of God's love.

If you are a single parent I pray this post has not discouraged you, the world does that enough. I pray it motivates you to find a community of believers who can help you raise your child. Help you love them with Christ's love, AND help you feel Christ's love yourself. I believe that's a big part of why God gave us the church.

And P.S.- for as broken as these girls are I had the honor of watching God work in their lives. Restoring them, giving them hope, showing them love, and granting them forgiveness. He is an awesome God who is more powerful than anything the world can throw at Him, including a broken home. Their stories will not have the expected ending if they continue to let God work in their lives!

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
Ephesians 5:22-25