Date Night for Haiti

When I heard that a huge earthquake had hit Haiti, I knew I had to do something. In my mind, it wasn't a matter of whether or not I would do something- it was just a matter of what I would do. See, I'm the person who loves to plan stuff...or at least I think I do. I searched the internet for fundraiser ideas and didn't find much. Family movie night? No... Bake sale? No... Babysitting fundraiser? Hey, you have an idea there... Within a few days, I was getting preparing for 'Date Night for Haiti.' - An event that would be planned and run by teens where parents could drop their kids off for an evening of babysitting. All the proceeds would go to Compassion's Haiti Relief program. Little did I know just how much behind the scenes work goes into an event like this. I talked to a couple girls in my small group about it, and they were so excited. Over the next month, they would become my team- They were such a big blessing to me! We had to plan for three different age groups, get babysitters for each room, get parents to sign their kids up, get rooms at our church to hold the event in, etc., etc., etc. Wow! All that planning left me extremely tired and anxious. I finally realized that I just had to let go of that anxiety and give it up to God. "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." Things got easier and I learned a lot as I went through the process. We made a few mistakes along the way, but nothing we couldn't fix. Last night was the event. We raised even more than I had hoped for and the kids had a blast. God orchestrated the event so perfectly- While planning the event, I would have said that my title was "coordinator"...but I wasn't really the coordinator- God was!

Why did I write about this? Well, partly to vent my thoughts- this is like my journal! Also, I want to inspire other teen girls to do big things. Date Night for Haiti started out as three young teen girls with a dream- and ended better than I could ever imagine. America's expectations of teenagers are so low. We're not supposed to care. And if we do care, we're not supposed to do anything about it. We're supposed to act "cool" and live only for #1. Well, that's not the way I want to live, and I'm sure you don't either. 1 Timothy 4:12 says, "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity." We young people are supposed to be an EXAMPLE- even to those older than we are. I just want to encourage you that if God leads you to do something big, He will carry you through it. If I was to say that we got through Date Night for Haiti on our own, I would be kidding myself. Philippians 1:6 says, "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Well, that doesn't exactly apply to the point I was trying to prove...but if God starts something in you, He's going to finish it! Don't worry- you can do it...because God is standing there right beside you.