"I Don't Believe In God."

"I don't believe in God." That was the result of our first spiritual conversation with Sasha when we brought her home in May of 2011. Here I was, the worship pastor of a Christian church, and I just adopted a teenager who doesn't even believe in God. Thanks God. No pressure. Well, at least she was honest.
It's been quite a journey- a quiet journey. What do I mean by quiet? I mean we really haven't said much. Keeping my mouth shut has been the hardest part. We've had countless deep, meaningful conversations with Sasha in the past year, but very few of them about God.
When Sasha told us she didn't believe in God, we responded by telling her that was fine. She was free to believe whatever she wanted. A deal was struck. We would sit through her gymnastics class for an hour each week to support her. In return, she would sit through a church service for an hour each week to support me. It also helped when we pointed out she could make friends at church. In closing the conversation, I challenged her to ask God to prove to her that he is real.  And that's pretty much where we left it.
A question here, a question there. Worship music. Could I download some songs to her iPod? Why yes, yes I can. Youth Group. Would I drive her to youth group? Why yes, yes I can. A deeper question here, a deeper question there. Over the spring there were questions such as, "How do you hear God's voice?" "How do you pray?" And then came summer and youth camp.
Now, a normal person might just simply ask God to reveal himself to them. But not Sasha. She had literally drawn a line in the sand and dared him to cross it. Her fists were up and she was ready for a fight. But she arrived home from camp to tell us that she heard God's voice for the first time. She was deeply moved and clearly shaken- in a good way. She also said she worshiped for the first time in the services because she now knows that God is real.
Last weekend we took her to a Night Of Worship at Christ For the Nations in Dallas. We weren't sure what her reaction would be. She clapped and sang along with the first couple of songs. Then the band started to play a song titled "Great I Am." Sasha leaned over and said, "Ooh, this is my favorite song." She closed her eyes, bowed her head, and lifted her hands in worship. And me? Well, I melted into a puddle of tears on the floor.
I'm glad I kept my mouth shut and let God do his thing in his time.