By DAVID EPPS
Pastor

We recognized three teenage girls in our worship services last Sunday.

All three have recently completed the eight grade and, in the fall, will be freshmen (fresh women? fresh persons?) in high school. Meredith Lytle will be enrolled at Starr's Mill High School in Fayette County. She lives in Peachtree City and is the daughter of Victor and Denise Lytle. Amanda Hale, whose parents are Dan and Stephanie Hale, will be in the 9th grade at Landmark in Fairburn. Ashley Lauria, who will also be a freshman at Landmark, is the daughter of Manny and Geri Lauria. The Hales and the Laurias also reside in Peachtree City.

They weren't recognized for their scholastic ability, although all three girls are extremely bright. Neither did we single them out because of their perfect attendance in church, though all three are almost always in faithful attendance. They weren't even recognized for their faithful and consistent service as acolytes, although they have all served in that capacity for several years. And they weren't recognized for their athletic prowess, even though all three are involved in sports and are excellent athletes. In fact, all three were involved in soccer during the spring.

Nevertheless, at the close of last week's service, all three were asked to come to the front of the church where a grateful and appreciative congregation served up a healthy dose of applause. Why? Because, when faced with a difficult choice, all three young ladies chose to do what was right and good rather than what was expedient and expected.

It was a simple thing, really. Amanda and Meredith played on the same soccer team. Ashley was a member of another team in the league. On the weekend of Pentecost, a significant day in the calendar of the Church, both soccer teams were scheduled, along with other teams, to play in important tournaments. The teams played on Saturday morning and again on Saturday afternoon. They were also to play on Sunday morning and again on Sunday afternoon. The three girls informed their coaches and teammates that they would not be available to play in the tournament on Sunday morning. They made the decision to be in church to worship God.

It's sad that young people should be forced to make such a choice. After all, it is adults, not children, that schedule such events. It is adults and soccer associations that decide that soccer games and tournaments should have a greater priority in the lives of kids than spiritual development. Adults should know better. Association officials should know better. Certainly, parents who purport to be Christians should know better and should seek to use their influence to ban such games on Sunday mornings. Yet, in this current secularized culture, it is normal that sports should be considered superior to the worship of God. Even many Christians have bought into the popular lie.

I do not imagine that the decision to not participate in the Sunday morning tournament game was an easy one to make. There is a tremendous amount of pressure on young people to conform. When teens say that "everybody is doing it," it's because that everybody else really is "doing it." It takes courage, integrity, and maturity to stand alone and to do the right thing. I sincerely admire Ashley, Meredith, and Amanda for choosing to be in their place in worship on Sunday morning. They didn't have an ax to grind-they just wanted to do the right thing. I also admire their parents who have obviously instilled in their daughters the values that will last long after the last ball has been kicked and the last goal has been scored.

Here is what I have learned over the yearspeople are the sum of their decisions. Those who are successful in life have learned from their mistakes and have made a habit of making good decisions. They have learned to choose the good and right way, even at personal cost. People who are failures, many of them bitter and resentful, are often in that state because they have consistently chosen the easy, expedient, or convenient way. So, when Amanda Hale, Ashley Lauria, and Meredith Lytle choose to worship in Church, rather than to play in a soccer tournament on Sunday morning, we recognized the rightness, courage, and integrity of that decision. I know they are just teens-but they have become my latest heroes.

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