Supporter Saturday: Featuring Lauren Spengler

"There once was a girl who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead.  When she was good she was very, very good, when she was bad she was horrid."

I think they may have written this nursery rhyme about me! Unfortunately it's applied to my adult life more than my childhood! It definitely applied to my time as youth pastor. I was both an awesome youth pastor and a terrible one! Who hires a 21 year old, with no experience  to mold young minds and hearts?  A guy who knows he's going to resign in a few weeks, that's who! ha! We survived 6 years and when I look at the life of today's featured supporter, Lauren, I think I may have done a few things right.

Lauren was only 10, when I arrived at Englewood and was always a fixture in my life there! Always serving, always the first to show up to help and the last to leave. I'm going to guess that in 6 years she missed less than 6 preservice prayer meetings, youth services, or outreach opportunities. She continues this life of serving to this day! At the end of every service we would open up the altars and the band would continue to play so if anyone wanted to continue to pray or worship they could.  Lauren always stayed.  As a matter of fact, she always made a bee line for the right hand corner of the sanctuary underneath the balcony where a little artificial tree sat, she would always kneel and pray there. I tried to explain to her we don't worship trees, but the behavior continued! So to this day she sends me texts and emails and stuff signed, "your little tree worshipper!"

I shake my head and smile every month when I see her name on my contributors sheet because I know it's a sacrifice for her. She teaches at a church daycare, so I know she can't be making much more than minimum wage, yet each month she gives. I figure she's working a full day each month just to hand over that day's  pay to me!! Her giving humbles me, it encourages me, it drives me to work harder, and represent her well here in Thailand! Plus, she's a reminder to me that even though there were many, many mistakes made in my tenure as youth pastor, that God still blessed my efforts and brought good out of them! And 10 years after leaving youth ministry, I still see fruit from that ministry in Lauren's life! God is pretty cool like that!

Thank you Lauren! I appreciate you and am so proud of the young woman you have grown up to be!