I have been a junior high leader at our church for a little over one year. It has been such an awesome experience as I get to mentor and enjoy life with about ten 8th grade girls. I never expected my time with them to be something I value so much or something that I look forward to. Every week I am refreshed and renewed by these kids. These are two hours during my week where I can play goofy games, talk like a teenager (LOL!) and act crazy-like. I also have developed a deep love of texting. In fact, I probably send about 2000 texts a month (and mostly to my junior highers!)
I have been so blessed by these girls! They are so unique and wonderful and fun to be around. They have their ups and downs and I am so excited that they have invited me to be a part of their lives and I can help solve their problems. It is so neat to see these girls grow in their faith. One thing I love about them is how open then are. They openly share their troubles and problems and we can talk about them, pray for them and share life together!
Julia and JordanEleanor and Mikayla
Just to prove to you that I am a junior-higher-at-heart, I now listen to Taylor Swift (LOVE her!!!). Also, if you gave me the choice of hanging out for an evening with my junior highers or going to dinner with our "adult" friends, I would most likely choose the crazy young people....
One last great thing about our youth group is the wonderful team of leaders. I have become close to them, and have so much fun with them! We often hang out for about an hour after youth group, just talking. One of the new things we started this school year is making videos for our kids. They represent what NOT to do, or give us talking points for our small group. They are pretty funny and a lot of fun to watch! So, I'll be putting them up here for you to enjoy also.
This video introduces the "mean girls" and also the dorky boys and our interactions with each other. In our small groups, we talk about how to meet the emotional, spiritual and physical needs of others.
In this video, we talk about how we can change. Do we change to fit into our group of friends? Is this good or bad? How should we change?
Alright.... enjoy!