Recently, I was in the car on the way home from church with my three-year-old Henry, and three-month-old Thea, when Henry broke into a chorus of:
“This is the Bible, the book of God’s love,
This is the Bible, the book of God’s love,
Written by people, and inspired from above – ahhhhhhh,
This is the Bible, the book of God’s love.”

If you’ve been around for any stretch of time at FUMC Fort Worth, you likely recognize this song from Mr. Mark and Children’s Ministry. I am so grateful that one of the first things my own child has been able to remember about his faith is that the Bible is a book of God’s love that guides us in our lives. This song gets Henry excited to read his Bible – aptly named “Growing in God’s Love: A Story Bible.” This song has sparked lots of fun conversations with Henry, too, about God’s love for God’s people. And when I started singing this song to our youth as I shared this memory with them, they joined in and sang along, because this song has stuck! For that, I am so grateful.

We often talk in Youth Ministry about all of the interesting, weird, exciting, scary, and unbelievable stories we can read in the Bible. Truly, there’s some really fun reading if you know where to look! There’s poetry and romance, there’s parables and pericopes, there’s drama and tragedy, there are prophets and stories of kings, and so much more. And luckily, in Youth Ministry, we get to dive deeper into those genres and stories and figure out what it all means (even if we often walk away with more questions than answers). During October, we’ll delve deeper into a series called Unbelievable, which explores questions and doubts in our own faith journeys, and we’re excited to learn and grow together.

Growing up, I was lucky enough that questions about these stories and doubts about what they could mean were not only allowed but encouraged. Like I said, there’s some truly strange stuff in the Bible, and there are some wild things that happen in our world, and it can be difficult for anyone of any age to reconcile. And now, I’m lucky enough that I get to help our students ask those questions and process their own doubts.

I keep saying I’m lucky, and I mean it, because questions and critical thinking and having others to process information with are what make our faith stick. In a world that tells us we have to know exactly what we believe and that we can’t change those beliefs whatsoever, we’re here to remind our students (and each other) that that’s not really the case. We’re here to remind each other that questions and doubts are good things. These things are what motivate us to work towards a deeper and richer faith life and spirituality.

I know that the work done in Children’s Ministry will likely stick with not just our youth here, but my own children, for the rest of their lives – and thanks be to God for that! I think we could all use a reminder that the Bible is a book of God’s love, meant to help us love others. And, the work we do in Youth Ministry will hopefully stick, too. I hope our students always know that questions and doubts are a healthy and normal part of the process for those who are deepening their faith. I hope our students always know that it’s okay not to have all the answers. And of course, I hope that our students always know that we are here to walk alongside them on their journey of faith, and whatever that may bring.

Rebekah Davis