One of the things I love most about working with my congregation’s bus ministry is meeting and getting to know kids who haven’t, as we would say, grown up in the church. To see their relationship with God begin and flourish is a beautiful process. These Bible belt kids daily deal with adult-sized problems and even in the midst of that chaos and pain, do it well.

I was praying with one sweet kid recently who was going through some hard times. He held my hand tightly as he prayed a heartfelt prayer that rivaled any I’ve heard from the lips of the adults I know. While his life was falling apart around him, he prayed, “Dear Lord, thank you, just thank you for where I am right now. Because right now you’re here.”

Those words have echoed in my mind every day since. Right now has a lot of stress, heartache, and frustration, but, with God present, right now also offers peace, love, and joy. If we will give up our dilemmas regardless of the hold they have, God will come in right now and heal our broken hearts. He will either calm the storms in our life or he will calm us in the midst of those storms.

Right now is uncertain. Right now has some anxiety. Right now hurts. But as children of God right now is manageable, not easy of course, but manageable. Right now we are not alone. Right now there is love. Right now, the creator of the Universe is here.

I don’t know what you’re struggling with but I know you’re struggling. I know you have doubts about your future and heartaches about your situations, but take a few seconds and thank God for right now. Because right now you have hope.

–by Paula Harrington @ www.forthright.net