Change of direction

Today was a great day but much different than I planned. I set out this morning to go to the reserve where the fire had killed the little boy, when I got a phone call. It was from the youth pastor at our church.
He asked me to go to a local junior high to spend some time doing grief counseling with students, they found out today that one of their fellow students had commited suicide over the weekend. I thought there might be a handful of students that would come for counsel. As we entered the school we were welcomed and taken to the library to meet the students. For the next two plus hours we were able to counsel with over 40 students. During much of that time the students were gathered in seats in a semi circle with all eyes directed at us. It was wonderful to be able to use my training to help so many kids. The guidance counselor took our names and asked if she could call us again if needed which we were happy to offer. By the way the girl had just turned 14, very sad.
I retuned home and had a friend call me from Montreal. He shared with me that a young man he has been helping was going through a hard time and had given up on life. He is 20. I talked with the young man on the phone and he shared that he had tried to commit suicide two days earlier and was planning to do so again. He said life was too hard and that he was so lonely and down. I asked him how he would describe the way he felt and he said "I feel dead." I pleaded with him not to take his life and to get to a hospital where he could be helped. He said he was so tired of living and just wanted to die. He did say he would try not to do anything until he could see a doctor tomorrow. Again, so sad.
It seems that God is giving me more and more opportunties to minister to hurting people. Tomorrow I plan to be on two reserves and share with them how we can bring people hope. It is not the hope that I can offer. It is the hope of Jesus.