worth the fight

I bought the new Switchfoot album Fading West. It's every bit of awesome that I hoped it would be. Yes. That's a shameless plug. #sorry #notsorry

The first song is "Love Alone Is Worth the Fight" which is crazy, because at my church we've been talking about war. And if you want peace - in your home, at work, with the people you love - you have to be prepared for war.

As I thought through my high school students who face the peer pressure every day of drugs, sex, and alcohol (and rock and roll! <just kidding about that one. I don't know any high schoolers who like rock and roll) and their longing to have someone to walk alongside them - a friend, a leader, anyone - through all of that, I realized they need someone - or a bunch of someones - fighting for them. Telling them they are loved. Valued. And that someone knows them and cares what happens in their life. And point them to a God that can take care of them.

Middle school students - the ones whose brains are still developing and are so full of life until something or someone tells them they don't matter or can't accomplish anything - ran through my head. They need people fighting for them. Telling them they really can accomplish things. That they are smart. And valued. And someone cares what happens during their day. And point them to a God who loves them, so much more than a parent who tells them they were a mistake.

I'm learning a lot about love lately. How much the word itself means to me. How difficult it is to live out. And what it really means when you tell someone, "I love you." It's interesting that "Love is patient" starts off the famous Corinthians love chapter - it's the one I'm the worst at.

But I'm learning that love - on so many levels - is worth the fight.