I was asked this weekend by Dan Rabe, our speaker for the weekend at New Beginnings Loft, "What is it that encourages you, and really makes you excited to work with the youth?" WHOA.. wasn't ready for that! I sat there for a little while, memories of late nights, inside jokes, bad macaroni and cheese, and injuries flooded my mind. I only have ever thought about this type of question a few times, and those were times where sleep was no where in sight and I felt as though I was definitely in over my head. Still sitting there with Dan, all I could think of were the little things. The times after we're done teaching when 1 student will come up and say "hey, I really appreciated what you said", or when we walk into a room and are suddenly group hugged by at least 7 girls all telling you how much they love you, or when life suddenly becomes more then they can handle and they call you wanting you to just talk and pray with them.
I started working with our youth group because I wanted to make sure that the teens didn't end up where I did. I thought that I would be able to save the 'younger generation' and that my involvment in their lives would immediately save them from a life of wrong decisions. What I didn't realize was that they would be giving me back so much more than I ever thought. I now know that even though they space out when we're teaching our lessons, they make fun of the games we think are awesome, and they make us worry and freak out sometimes, our impact on their lives is huge. Even if they don't, or we don't realize it now they are learning from us, they're watching our interaction together as leaders, they're listening to us pray and communicate with our loving Father each day through all of our actions. I hope and pray that someday they will be able to look back on all of their years in the youth group and be able to say that we have been a pivotal part in shaping who they are.
All of this to say, I love the Word of Life youth group more than words can express!
