Chenille

"Those look like breast cancer ribbons!"
Frank stared at us, completely unmiffed by our guessing.

Our iSPY adult staff team was gathered for a meeting.
And we were each given a set of pipe cleaners.
Or chenille stems, the official name of these pliable fuzzy craft sticks.

Rainbow, for patience and attainable goals.
A balance beam, for confidence and daring.
Lips. for words of encouragement.
Hands, for guidance and peace.

"Each of these persons," Frank pointed stressed this last word as he picked up his ribbons. "Each of these persons are the youth and if they are like sheep needing a shepherd, then if we do our work right, leading them to Jesus, the Shepherd, each of us will effect a connection with each other." We had taken turns, each of us sharing what it is that we hoped to share with our youth in the youth group.

He slowly wound the persons in an interlocking design.
"In the end, we are a circle, a community, connected..."
"That's deep... that is deep." A slow appreciative smile crossed Thái's face.
Thái had wanted to pass on kindness. "That's like all of us, what we want to do," Thái continued.

The chenille stems lay fragile in our hands.
Chenille, in French, means caterpillar.
These stems were originally dubbed chenille because it resembled a caterpillar's fuzzy look.
This night, these chenille was awaiting transformation that only can be set free if enough adults do care about our youth.

ps. In honor of our iSPY staff meeting last week. May we perseveringly be there for our youth.
ps2. Photo of Frank sharing his thoughts. Junior is in the background.