Go after God. Whatever it takes, do it. And don't give the excuse "I'm just a teenager" or "I'll do it when I grow up," because it doesn't work that way. God wants to know you NOW.' ~ Rachel Scott
After I finished writing the last post on sheltering young people I was reading through the book 'The journals of Rachel Scott' and came across the above quote. For people who don't know, Rachel was a 17 year old girl who was dedicated to her faith and to God. However, her life was taken away from her for this exact reason in the Columbine High School Massacre of 1999.She lived her faith to the moment of her death. It is claimed that one of the gunmen, after having first shot Rachel in her leg, asked the wounded girl if she still believed in God, and that she had answered "Yes", leading to a second shot ending in her death.
Rachel did not care about her age or let it hold her back. At 17 she was writing a book and was also known as one of the most supportive and caring people her friends and family knew to her friends and everyone else around her. She decided to make a difference and follow what she believed even in the most difficult of times.
And look at the difference her life has made. She may not be here today to see it, but her family have kept her dreams alive - publishing a book of her journal entries and her father and brother travel to schools and youth events world wide to spread her ideas and trying prevent something like this happening again.
But something like this is not what is needed to make a difference. It is believed that the people responsible for this tragedy did so because they felt like outcasts. They were rejected by everyone they knew - school peers, Christians, so called 'friends'
God called us to love everyone, even those who were different to us and outcast. You can make a huge difference by being a friend to someone who doesn't fit in. Show them they are cared about. Show them that they are loved. But don't just use them for their friendship and leave them when they are no longer of use to you. Be their true friend. Let Christ and his love shine through you to those out there who may be hurting.
