Skateboards and a Tract Wallet

Hello blogger world! Hope is taking time out of her busy life to post a blog. Isn't that nice? :) I'm constantly busy but I find myself missing this blog and formulating posts in my head here and there. I couldn't sleep last night for a while so in between praying, quoting Bible, and trying to sort out life's problems, this blog post was working itself out in my mind. :)
So here goes....


I really like longboarding.
   
And I really like to watch people skateboard (especially my Dad and brothers). Sadly I don't do too well with skateboard tricks myself (I can do a few on a longboard) but I do enjoy watching others demonstrate them.

But more then both of those things put together  I love to witness and share my faith, and skateboarders just so happen to be an extremely interesting crowd to talk to.

So if my Dad says, "Get your skates and load up the car! We're heading to the skate park!" I get pretty excited.
After a mad rush to find skateboard shoes; make some drinks; grab a sweat towel; and load the scooters, longboards, skateboards, and my little sister's new skates we hit the road.
We always joke about my younger brother because usually he's the one asking to go and then instead of helping us get there faster by helping gather all of four stuff together he'll be out warming up his tricks on the sidewalk. Hee hee. (Not to slander as he does help more often than not.) 
When we pull up we're all holding our breath (or maybe it's just me) hoping it's not too crowded. I'm pretty shy about skating around people for some reason so if the park is super crowded I ditch longboarding altogether and am content with watching my Dad and brother, helping my little sister learn how to roller skate, teaching other sisters how to longboard, or witnessing to people.

My Dad and brother enjoy showing us their best tricks and I'm afraid I disappoint them sometimes when I say things like, "WOW! That was awesome. Looked like a dance step or something!" (That's a dancing female's perspective...)  My Dad's like, "Hope, ballet is not what a skater is trying to look like he's doing." We all laugh.      Good times.

The park has changed very little over the years of us coming. Recently it got a new paint job (that many skaters have complained about), the old-fun-wooden playground was replaced with a new colorful-boring-park, and I think the basketball net may have been replaced once or twice. Nothing major. We grew up coming to this skate-park as my Dad and brothers have always skateboarded.

I have many, many, many memories here.

There was the time I was playing "hide-n-go-seek" and had found a decent hiding place in the middle of one of those old dirty plastic tubes. As I lay there tickled with excitement that no one had found me yet, I looked to my left and to my profound horror a great big daddy long-legged spider was crawling on it's spindly legs right towards me! Torn between the desire to save my awesome hiding spot and my deep fear of spiders, the decision was made when it started up my arm. Stifling my screams and trying to act brave (though feeling far from it) I picked it up by one long leg and tried to shoo it away. When it reached up to bite me (though I tried to reassure my 10 year old self that I had heard "daddy long legs have mouths too small to bite humans with") I screamed and rolled out of that tunnel faster then greased lightning. Turns out I had squashed the creepy thing as I rolled out and I was still having shivers when I was tagged to be "It" in the next game of "hide-n-go-seek".

Then there was the time my Dad was witnessing to a skater 'til about 1 in the morning and I vividly remember the guy asking my Dad about "the moon turning to blood" in the Bible because I was staring up at the full moon and wondering if it would indeed turn red.

I also remember reaching the ultimate goal of 2027 jumps on our pogo stick,  making my first -and only- half court basketball shot, straddling the plastic tunnels like a saddle on a horse and pretending to gallop into the wind, running and dancing through the grass barefoot while playing on my recorder, and the time I finally overcame my fear of riding over the pitcher's mound on my longboard (let's not mention the time I fell while going over it and still have a scar on my knee to testify.... Courage faces fears).

A lot of the skaters are still the same skaters I grew up watching (and my Dad witnessed to and gave tracts to). The same attitude, the same music, the same style. Their just not quite as energetic and not quite as young.

Well, enough with memories. Let me get on to some witnessing stories.

On labor day night we decided to hit the skate-park and meet some brothers from our church there as well.
As we pulled up we instantly noticed the crowds of people. It was really crowded.

I pulled out my beautiful longboard with it's blue ocean wave background and realized that all hope of enjoying any longboarding had disappeared. But I was delighted to see some female skaters standing around; a perfect witnessing opportunity.

Some "Skate Bettys" (as they are referred to in the skateboarding realm) are notorious for being hardened, heavy metal listening, rough and tough females. Obviously I was a little apprehensive.
After praying, and feeling nervous, and talking myself in and out of why I should or shouldn't witness, and asking my Dad's opinion ("Be led by The Spirit" was his council and he was not opposed to the idea), and making sure my little sister got going on her skates (secretly I was just stalling for time), I finally got the courage to grab my faithful "Chick tract wallet" and skate over to a group of 3 girls.
(The whole way over my stomach was in knots and my mind was debating whether to pre-meditate or to be led by The Spirit in how I started the conversation. The Lord won -of course.)
"Hey girls!" I smiled.
They all looked up at me with slightly shocked faces and then smiled in return.
"How long have y'all been skating?"
To my relief, they were not your average "Skate Bettys" as two of them were just learning to skate. The other girl, I noticed, was pretty good so I encouraged her to show me her best trick. Andrei proceeded to do an awesome looking hand flip on flat land which I was sure to verbally applaud.
After some casual chit-chat about how excited I was to see some female skaters, and how long we had been coming to this skate-park, I introduced myself and got their names and ages. Of course they were surprised to find out I am 21 years old (I look 16 and get people thinking I'm 14-16 all the time....ha ha Oh well...) as they were 18-20 year olds.
I switched it over to Spiritual matters with some Chick tracts and my favorite question, "So what do you think happens when somebody dies?" (This is an awesome question because the answers are so varied and allows for the other person to open up and share their personal opinion.)
I got different answers, some reincarnation mixed with going to heaven and the feelings of uncertainty, and "I don't know".
Praise God! It turned into one of the best conversations I'd had in a long time! It was beautiful.
We got into sin, the law, the gospel, repentance, the excruciating pain and everything Jesus went through for us on the cross, eternity, why Christians love Jesus, and answering of their hardest/deepest questions. We also talked about the providence of my name being "Hope" as the Lord put it into my heart to love witnessing, the meaning of some of their names ("Andrei", "Brianna", and "Cassie"), what hell and heaven are really like, why I love them enough to warn them, some of their personal sad history, and what they think about being in heaven or hell for all eternity.

The Lord really softened their hearts and you could see the conviction all over their faces. It was glorious!
PLEASE pray for them. One of the girls even got my email if she ever has any questions or prayer requests.
May The Lord water those seeds and continue to use the gospel tracts they received.

It was one of those conversations where you leave on cloud 9 10 and 11, your eyes are so bright, your smile so wide, and you're saying "Praise God!" and "Thank-you Jesus!" over and over in your head. It's hard to get back into your life and think straight again. ha ha. I casually skated off all mature and ladylike but I felt like exploding with my intense joy by dancing and jumping up and down (Ever done that before? Can't be just me...)
I really hope to see them there again soon and continue some more witnessing.

In the past few months God's opened up a lot of doors for witnessing and tract opportunities.

I got to witness to a REAL "Skate Betty" named "Catara" who was hard and agnostic, but The Lord eventually softened her down. She hung out with the "gothic" looking types and played in a heavy metal band. The conversation was very fruitful and she even ordered her guy friend next to her to read a tract while we were talking! (The Lord will use anyone I suppose... ha ha.)

She took several tracts and I didn't see her for a while. Then, when we were witnessing at our local fair I went to hand the scariest looking guy there a tract. He's was decked all out in black, chains, piercings, tattoos, and an evil piercing gaze. Already nervous, and having him refuse it with a mean look, I jumped out of my skin when I felt a hand on my shoulder and a girl saying "Hey Hope!"
To my relief it was Catara. She had recognized me (I probably wouldn't have noticed her in the crowds of people) and turns out I had been handing her friend the tract (what providence!). We talked for a couple seconds then she took another tract and disappeared into the crowds. Praise God! I pray everyday that she gets saved.

Another time The Lord had my Dad thinking of the name "Elijah" right before we pulled up to the skate-park. We thought the park  was empty but then a kid started skating out from behind a ramp. In the course of friendly small talk Dad asked him his name and guess what it was...
                                   "Elijah!"
Dad told him the testimony and encouraged me to witness to him and give him tract. It went well. He's just a 13 year old kid who's shy, a little over-weight, self conscious, probably gets made fun of, and looking for truth.
Also, later when just my Dad, brother, and another brother in our church went to skate my Dad had that brother witness to him again. (and I think he got another tract). That was nice.

A plus to looking way younger then I actually am is that kids who are younger tend to want to talk to me because they think I'm closer to their age. I never thought I would say looking 14 at 21 is a blessing but it really is. ;)

Another  scooter kid named "Caleb" has been witnessed to and given a new Chick tract every time I see him (just last night I gave him another tract and his 2 buddies). He's another shy, awkward, depressed looking guy with long hair all in his face and likes to wear dark hard metal looking shirts. These poor kids have no one to guide them. It feels me with intense sadness to watch them waste their youth away on nothing.  Sigh. They need Jesus.

Another day two young 13 year old girls named "Rylie" and "Kylie" got the law, the gospel, repentance, and their questions answered.

As an artist who draws photo realism I study faces rather intently... That's why I can remember faces better then names. If I'm staring at you for any given amount of time I can describe every detail about your face later. I know, it's creepy, but I'm not the only artist who does this! (Thankfully...).
Well anyways, the girl "Kylie" had one blue eye and one brown eye. As an artist I was struck with the uniqueness! (weird, I know.)
So it was a little distracting to me as I was witnessing... Intense observation can be a downfall sometimes...

But in all seriousness, after witnessing to those girls I was encouraged yet sad. They were SOO young and already involved in so much sin; already having break-ups with boy friends; already depressed, lonely, confused, and searching for truth in a world full of lies.
This generation is going down hill and FAST. So so so sad.

Well, I need to get off here and work on dinner.
I hope some of these stories will encourage you to get out of your comfort zone and spread the good news of the Gospel. PEOPLE NEED THE LORD. And LOVE WARNS.

BE BLESSED.

The Lord's, Hope Jerusalem <3 p="">