"I am thankful to serve a God that chases after me and shows me unconditional love even when I don’t respond to His direction"

When I used to think about how Gateway Woods impacted people’s lives, I assumed it was referring to the residents that were placed at Gateway. I was wrong. After working a summer at Gateway, my life has been touched and impacted in so many ways. 

Last summer, I had the opportunity to be an English Education Intern. One of the many things I learned was how to redirect negative behavior. One method that was used was asking the students to “try again”. This strategy compelled students to try with a better attitude or with a more respectful tone.

After asking students to “redo” or “try again” there were many times that the behavior would improve and there would be a clear change. But there were also times when the behavior would stay the same or even get worse when given those directions. After seeing the students make the same choices over and over again, it got discouraging and it was easy to get frustrated with them.

Until I saw myself in them.

How often has God given me clear directions, “redos”, or chances to change my attitude? When He gives me these directions, do I ignore Him? How often do I take advantage of the patience that God has with me? No matter how many times I do this, God is still there waiting to welcome me back into His arms.

I am thankful to serve a God that chases after me and shows me unconditional love even when I don’t respond to His direction. This unconditional love and patience are characteristics of God that I get to put into practice by displaying them to others on a daily basis.

I also actively saw this patience and love displayed through the staff on campus. I saw it in the prayer meetings, the supervision sessions, and the interactions with other staff members and residents.

I am beyond grateful for the time I got to spend living life with the Gateway staff and residents and I encourage you to take the opportunity to invest in the Gateway community. Join them by praying for them, go visit for dinner, or reach out to the houseparents and assistants to see how you can best support their house.

And who knows? If your attitude needs adjusting, maybe God will change it as He did mine.