A moment I hope I never forget

In ministry, one of the hardest parts is confrontation. I'm definitely one for just calling people out on the carpet but sometimes I forget about the whole grace factor. I have one girl in my high school girl's ministry that we'll just call her a problem child. I pretty much was done with her and after hearing about what her reputation was, I had already settled it in my heart to give her the boot and call it "looking out for the holiness of the church". Then something crazy happened, in the book of John, we're told that the Holy Spirit will be given to "remind us of all things" and boy did he remind about something...the whole church discipline process. It had never dawned on me just how soaked in grace and mercy the whole approach really was. But if you pursue the biblical avenue to discipline, it's really cool! After that little "Holy Spirit Reminder" I was able to talk to her in the morning, no emotion, but purely out of love - again another lesson I actually had to live out but this time it was from Galatians, "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently..." It was just so cool how it was all Him and His conviction, and realizing that what I had thought was "righteous indignation" was actually showing itself in a sinful manner. After talking with her, and God seriously being at the heart of it, she came back to talk to me and acted very angry about the entire thing but after some more work done by Him alone, she couldn't really find anything else to say so I just kind of left it at that. Then, that afternoon, an unbelievably awesome thing happened! She came to the girl's Bible study alone - normally she comes only if she's got this one friend with her - and then she actually was an active participant in the study! I honestly wanted to cry when she came around the corner all by herself. I just pray that it really was the mark of the beginning of some awesome things in her life! It truly was one of the pinacles of my ministry career by far, and the coolest part about it was that it was all the work of His Spirit in not only her life, but my life as well.