Posted by Matt Markins in My youth pastor back home, Mike Harlow, is allowing a younger, better looking guy take over this next generation of students. The following is a tribute to Mike. Love you man.
Parents have such an impact in the lives of their children, especially when it comes to values, faith and spiritual matters. As important as parents are, kids need others to come along-side them and reinforce what parents are speaking into the lives of their kids. I had a few key men who filled this role at a critical time in my life, and Mike Harlow was one of them.
Mike became the youth minister at Rock Prairie at a time in my life when I needed another voice to speak into my human experience. Let’s face it, when students become teenagers, parents suddenly become stupid! Nothing they say or know seems to matter any more. Although that’s not a reality, it’s a perceived reality.
For me, Mike was a rock. He challenged me. It’s almost as if he dared me to do the extreme and follow God no matter where He lead me. God is giving me some unique opportunities at this brief moment in my life. If it were not for my parents and guys like Mike Harlow, I would have drifted very far from the giver of life, Jesus Christ. Mike, thanks for giving, even with others may not have noticed how much you really cared. You have forever changed the direction of my life, and I am just one of many.
