i want to save them all

i was in a fitting room the other night and overheard this interesting conversation between two little girls (if i had to guess ages, i'd estimate between 7 and 9 years old). i believe they were just trying on random things to entertain themselves whilst their parent(s) shopped - the girls kept running in and out of the fitting room stalls getting more clothes. i never even saw/heard a mom or dad.

girl A: look at me - this shirt is for pregnant ladies. but i'm not pregnant.

girl B: i know that!

girl A: but what if i was? what if i was pregnant?

girl B: then i'd be surprised 'cause you're just a little girl.

children really do say the darnedest things. it was such an innocent exchange that made me chuckle - not at all how i would feel if they had been two 13 year olds. had that been the case, i'd probably have invaded their conversation and gave them a talking to. just kidding - but i would have wanted to. badly.

have you ever wanted to do that though? have you ever been out somewhere and overheard young kids talking about things that are appalling, and you just want to introduce yourself and teach them some things, let them know there's a better way, let them know where they can find love?

that happens to me almost every day - especially on my train journeys. the trains are always filled with pre-teens and teens of all ages, talking about all kinds of things from just everyday vulgar language to getting drunk and high, to sex, to lustful comments about other guys and girls. and i think, do they really know what they're getting themselves into? do they really know the evils of this world and how it will suck them in quickly? do they really know that all the things they're talking about and some are probably even doing are satan's devices to drag them under, even at such young ages?

no, they don't understand. they don't see it...they just don't know the dangers of their choices now. they think they're having fun. they think they have all the time in the world.

and i sit there burning with a desire to sit with them, talk to them about their lives, their feelings, their choices, their futures, their bodies, their souls, their hearts, their minds. i burn with a desire to save them from the destruction that awaits them if they continue to dabble in the seductive and deceptively delicious pool of the world and it's lusts. i want to feed them Word.

i want to save them.

i want to let them know that there's no good ending to that story. there's only death. there's only pain. there's only emptiness. the drugs, the drunkenness, the sex, the lusts, the material things....they're traps. the devil is seeking them out...early. he has set his traps and they are steadily falling in.

i want to save them.

yet time and time again, i hear these kids, i see these young lives going nowhere and fast...and i sit in my seat on the train, and i say nothing.

i stare out the window, and my heart aches, literally aches for them because... i was them. i remember being them. i know them, though i don't know any of them. but still, i know them. and i know how that story ends. without Christ to pull them out, that story does not end well.

but i feel like it's not my place. i feel like i have no right to approach a group of total strangers and share words of love and wisdom. i feel like they'll probably rip me to shreds if i try - most of the young people i see are way bigger than me anyway. they could take me down without breaking a sweat. they'd probably tell me where i can shove my concern.

but maybe they wouldn't. maybe they'd listen.

sad thing is, i'd never know because i don't try. i feel like it's out of line. they're not my children. they're not my siblings, they're not my friends - if i knew them personally, there'd be no hesitation at all and i'd do everything i could. but i couldn't possibly approach a total stranger and talk to them about life choices, Christ, a better life than the one they've been lured into.

could i?

i used to mentor and tutor highschool kids a couple of years ago. many of them were teens who had had some rough journeys, made some wrong turns and were at this school trying to get their lives back on track. God used me not only to help them with their homework and tests and papers, but to help lead them into a new, positive direction. i shared words of understanding and the little wisdom i can offer, thanks be to God. i talked to them about boyfriends, relationships, attitudes, their futures, college. i had access to them - i saw them every week. they knew me, my name. i knew them, their names. they were 'my kids'.

but what about the ones i don't know? what about the ones whose names i don't know, on the train, loitering on the corners, walking down the street? laughing and sharing their stories of innocence robbed, and lost. is God allowing me to be in their same space, to hear their conversations, to catch a glimpse of what their lives are like for a reason? do i have a responsibility to them? what if i'm the only one who hears them? and i've said nothing.

i have failed them miserably.