I'm so jazzed. I've been jazzed all day. Last night, Maggie D. and Taylor S. convinced me to come to the P'ville Teen Center as a volunteer to hang out with the kids and keep order if necessary. I am so glad I went. Those are kids with so much potential, and almost all of it untapped. We met three in particular - Jeffrey, Dante, and a boy who calls himself "Satan" - for whom my heart especially reaches out. Their lives up to this point have been absolutely undirected and full of misery. "Satan" kept trying to shock us with gruesome stories and phrases. I told him he couldn't be Satan, because Jesus hates Satan, but Jesus would love him. He told me he would kill me in a heartbeat. I told him he didn't frighten me. And he didn't. He was just tryin' to make me go away. I'm not going; I'm coming back next Friday.

This morning I read this verse in Acts. It comes after Paul and Barnabas have been preaching to the Jews and Gentiles at Antioch and winning many to Jesus' side. The city then expels the disciples:

"But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost" (Acts 13:51-52).

That's how I feel - filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost. That hour and a half at the teen center renders all my troubles into perspective. What are my troubles? Basically, I don't know whether to work for a year, hang out with my happy & loving family, or go to grad school. Those kids don't even know that their entire lives have value. I am blown away with my blessings and overwhelmed with the imbalance between my life and theirs. I have been given so much. What will I do with it? Oh Lord, I don't deserve any of it.  ¶ 1:09 PM