An Opportunity Part 3: Of Toddlers and Prayer Vigils

After a great night of solid sleep, I woke up to a gorgeous Friday morning, as well as to the sounds of excitement coming from down the hallway, where the Ochs' two youngsters, Colvin and Georgia, were waking up. After briefly cleaning up, I joined Marj and the two littles out in the playroom. Both were quite excited to have me and “Mr. Tom” (Dad) visiting, and we played trains before going downstairs for breakfast.

 After breakfast, we played in the living room and visited some more. It was a morning well-spent, laughing, playing, sharing stories, and relaxing for a little while before some of the big events of the coming days came into action. 

 After pouring over some scripture for a while in the afternoon, I got ready for the prayer vigil and had a quick dinner with Marj, the kids, and Dad before me and Dad would be off for the prayer vigil. Getting to compass was pretty easy, and we arrived at Compass Center in perfect time.  Things were pretty quiet when we arrived, but one of C.M.'s fellow youth pastors, Matt, was there to welcome us and help us get set up.

 Things were pretty quiet after we set up, and initially it looked like it was going to be a long 24 hours. But by the grace of God, a group of fantastic teens came to keep vigil from 7PM to 3AM, and we quickly got caught up in introducing ourselves and talking for hours. There has only been one other time in my life when have I felt so instantly and warmly welcomed by a group of Christian Teens, and I will never forget how great that feels. They all proved to be such smart, nice, funny, Godly teens. At 1 in the morning, me, Matt, and two other teens guys decided to read scripture and sing praises to our Savior by the light of a few dim lamps. Later, when we all got a little hungry, they even went out at 2 A.M. and got us all a bite to eat. I could already tell they were a great group to be with.

  That night, from 7P.M. Friday to 3A.M. Saturday, God had blessed me with some of the best opportunities to share my story, advocate, and meet fellow Christian Teens. Around 3 A.M. Saturday morning, after C.M. arrived and I got to meet him in-person, I went back to the “green room” behind the stage of the main worship center to catch some sleep. “So far, so good,” I thought to myself. Almost half-way through the prayer vigil, I had already been blessed by so many people, and prayed that God would help the words I had spoken and would speak to be wise, used for His greater glory, and to inspire others to advocate and consider missionary work. All that was left was to persevere and lay it all in His Hands.