All Alone?

When I saw this picture posted on FB it just broke my heart.

Somewhere in the US on September 28

I could not stop crying for this lone young man. Could you guess where he was? What he was doing? On September 28 probably very early in the morning?

Well, if you have a high schooller in the house, they may know. Ask them.

On Sept 28, it was See You At The Pole, where Christian teens gather annually at their local schools'  flagpole to pray for their school during the early morning before school starts. Started in 1990 as a grass roots movement of 10 students praying  at their school, it is now a global day of student prayer.

This young man pictured above was the only one standing at his school's flagpole praying for his fellow students, school and country. At first he was waiting for someone else to show up but after awhile when he figured out that no one else was going to join him, he prayed that his prayers alone would make a difference to Jesus. And it did. The picture went viral all over the country.

This young man touched my heart so deeply because he took his faith into his own hands and made it a message to the world that He loves Jesus and that our schools so desperately need God so he prayed. 

Last year, Emily joined other students from Youth Alive, a Christian club at her public high school to pray.

Last year, Hannah joined her junior high classmates to pray at the flagpole

And this year, Emily again joined her classmates as the sun was coming up, to pray for her school, teachers and country.

I am thankful that my girls have a spiritual community to be a part of at school.

Being a teenager is so different now as compared to when I was in high school. But one thing has not changed: being a teen is not easy. In fact, it may be one of the hardest times of your life. Balancing academics, extra curriculars, friends, peer pressure, social media, discovering your identity, and planning for a future in which you have no idea what you will be doing much less know what you want to do.

That's a lot for a someone to go through when they aren't even officially an 'adult' yet.

So for a teen to go to God through prayer to ask for help is H-U-G-E!

So was that lone young man all alone when he prayed that early morning on Sept 28?

Nope.

Jesus was with Him.