Last year, my friend Paul and my fiancé Josh were working on building a one stair step—basically a box made of wood for the stage at LYC (Ambrose’s Legacy Youth Conference). My grandfather was a carpenter and I watched him work growing up, so to me this simple task should have taken no time at all. Five pieces of wood, screws, and a screw gun can’t be that hard right? Well it took the men three hours to build this step which could have been finished in 45 minutes.

This was my favorite memory from LYC not because to me it was hilarious, but because thanks to the time it took the men to build the step, I was able to watch as they grew together as brothers in Christ. They both worked together finding different ways in which the step would be the strongest and testing how to hold the weight of those coming on and off stage. The laughed together and had different opinions on how to put the step together.

Last year’s LYC theme was Joy. The building project happened the weekend before the conference, but it proved that joy was still part of the planning of LYC. The men committed to building the step, they had difficulties putting it together. They worked to make sure it would stay strong in order to hold the weight of everyone who stepped on it. And when it was completed the men found joy in their work because they saw how far they had come since they started.

When we accept Christ we work through struggles and hard times, and when Christ shows us His path for our lives, as it comes together we are able to find joy that only he can provide. With this joy that Christ gives us, we are able to withstand the weight of the world upon us and we can trust that joy will always be greater than the struggles we face day to day.