All for love
Just this week I have been tidying out a whole load of old cassette tapes from home. As they clanked and clattered in the bag on the way to the charity shop I was struck by how clunky they seem in comparison to Cds…or to downloads. The other thought they inspired was the memory of a sweet old lady in the church where I first came to faith.
At the time we had a lively youth group with twenty or more teenagers, and she had a tiny cottage. At her invitation, we all squeezed into every nook and cranny of her minute sitting room two weeks’ running to listen to a ‘tape’ on her mono cassette player. The tape was the two-part testimony of greengrocer-turned villain-turned Christian Fred Lemon. Although the story was gripping, the sound quality was barely audible and there was nothing visual to keep our interest.
So why did we come back, twice, to sit uncomfortably and listen? The answer is simple – because she loved us…and the feeling was reciprocated. Thank God for those who love the teenagers in your church – simply, artlessly and unconditionally. They are priceless, and their investment will pay unimaginable dividends.
Image: creative commons
