Love is an Ocean

As I sat here this afternoon after a long morning of cleaning Barbecue Grills at RHUMC, I heard a song that caughts my ear and really made me think. The song is titled "Ocean Wide" by The Afters. After hearing it once, I put it on repeat and listened to it several times. Surprisingly, it very accurately mirrors the current situation at RHUMC. As most of you know, Jared has been gone since Easter, and it has been pretty rough on everyone. The entire Youth Group is trying to get through this together.

The song starts off by saying: "Look outside, it's already light and stars ran away with the night." This really describes our Youth Group right now. Even though something that I would consider to be pretty terrible has happened, we're already beginning to see the other side. We're not really able to find a good reason for losing Jared, but we do realize that we're going to get through this, and we're going to be stronger because of it.

It also says: "Things were said, words that we'll try to forget, it's so hard to admit. I know we've made mistakes. I see through all the tears, and that's what got us here." The mistakes that have been made in this entire process are pretty obvious. The way that the church handled this situation ,whether it was the right decision or not, was completely innappropriate. A lot of people have been seriously hurt by the actions taken in the past two weeks, and there are a few people that have lost a lot of credibility and respect in the eyes of the congregation. Though many tears have been shed in all of this, those tears have shown us something.

"If love is an ocean wide, we'll swim in the tears we cry. They'll see us through to the other side. We're gonna make it. When love is a raging sea, you can hold onto me. We'll find a way tonight. Love is an ocean wide." The tears that we've all cried together have truly brought us closer. The love that has been shown by all of the youth, the parents, and the members of RHUMC could truly fill an ocean. The love that we have is going to get us through this. As we hold onto each other, we'll end up coming out of this stronger than we were before. We're gonna make it.

That's the bottom line. We're gonna make it. Richmond Hill United Methodist Church has experienced something that no house of God should ever have to go through. Even though we've all been so deeply hurt by this, we realize that things are going to get better. This church is bigger than all of us, and no matter what Satan throws at us, we're going to make it through. Evil has limits, but love is infinate; you can never run out. The love that we show toward one another in this situation is going to be the thing that saves us. The most important people to show love toward in this moment are our youth, our parents, our leadership team, our staff, and our beloved former Youth Leader. We have to pull this church back together. Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." That is our cry. We can do this, we're gonna make it. Love is an ocean..........



From the Hilltop,
Hunter Odom
hunter2444@coastalnow.net
Romans 8:28

Unanswered Questions

There are times in our lives when we don't understand why the Lord does the things he does. We don't understand why something terrible could happen to a righteous person that loves God with all their heart. We don't know why, at times, life is just so difficult. Though it's incredibly hard to understand these things, God often uses tragedy to unveil triumph.

On Easter Sunday, at about 9PM, I received the call that Jared had suddenly been asked to resign. News spread very quickly throughout the youth group, and every one had the same question: Why? No one understands why this would happen, and the future is very blurry. Though many were angry and upset at first, those feelings quickly turned to love for one another and for Jared. We realize that there is no possible way that we're ever going to make it through this if we aren't unified as a youth group and as a church.

It is often said that the Lord works in mysterious ways, but what is his plan in this? What does he have in store for us? Satan is trying his hardest to take our youth group out, we've become to much of a threat. If we're able to get through this, what could be on the other side? The bottom line is, God has something for us in all of this, though finding it may be difficult.

Even in the last few hours, Richmond Hill United Methodist Church has stood together as a family. We're not going to let this ruin what we've started. We're not going to fall to Satan's schemes, we have to much to lose. All we know to do right now is to stick together, and look to the Lord.

Even as I write this I am reminded that we've seen storms before, and we've gotten through them. This is no different. In a note on Facebook, Mary Henderson just made the analogy that this is just another earthquake. It's painful and destructive, but it doesn't last. Though picking up the pieces is going to take a while, we're going to get through this. The aftershock of it all is still looming, but it's just something that we're going to have to deal with. What matters is that we have each other to get through this.

Right now, the future is what's one everyone's mind. Why did this happen and what are we going to do? Is something miraculous going to happen? Is our youth group going to fall apart? Can we get through this?

I've seen the Lord do some pretty amazing things. He's saved lives, healed relationships, and so much more. There's no reason that he can't help us through this, and he will! The most important thing we can do is continue looking to him. All the unanswered questions will have to wait. We just have to concentrate on the Lord, because he's got a plan. Though it may be incredibly hard to understand all this right now, we will. Somehow, things are going to work out, we just need to pray.

Jared needs to know that we love him, even though we're all confused. In just 8 months, he and Jenn have changed RHUMC forever. So many amazing things have happened, and so many close relationships have been formed. We can't lat Satan win this battle, and he's not going to. We just have to stand together, and continue seeking the Lord, he will take care of the rest.

I love yall....

From the Hilltop,
Hunter Odom
hunter2444@coastalnow.net
Romans 8:28