On Our Way To Crazy

Today I am thankful for small victories.

Saturday afternoon Aaron took the guys in our youth group to play paintball. I was nervous about that for two reasons: 1) I don’t know anything about paintball and was afraid the place I was sending them to was lame; and 2) we don’t have a lot of guys in our group, and I didn’t know if anyone would show and if they did, if they would get along and have a good time.

Aaron, as per usual, rocked it. They had about ten players total and I got rave reviews from all of them. (Ten people showing up at a guys-only event? A miracle.) They had a blast and want to make paintball a regular event. I really want the guys in our group to build relationships with each other, and Saturday was a great start.

Saturday night we had a sleepover at our house for the girls in our group. All told, with leaders and everything, there were 20 people sleeping in our house. Our house is not very big. But they squeezed in and it was great. I had some games and stuff planned, but the evening turned into a Mafia-marathon finished with a movie and pedicures at two in the morning. We had a lot of new girls show up for the sleepover, and our older girls were really great about including them and making them feel like a part of the group.

One of the struggles I’ve had with this particular group is that I feel like I have to entertain them. Well, not so much that I have to… I don’t see that as my job. But they have that ‘entertain me’ attitude, and it is draining on me. Events make me nervous because they are so quick to label something as stupid and lame. It’s not so much that I don’t want them to think I am stupid and lame but that I don’t want that to be their attitude toward church. Because they come whether they like it or not, and that negativity rubs off on everyone. So that we had two really successful events this weekend is a victory for me. I am energized.

Coming off of a big Saturday, Sunday morning service was one of the best we’ve had. Every week the kids get more comfortable with the worship time and with singing where people can actually hear them. Our worship leaders have their feet under them and are really connecting with the group. We had a few new kids in the high school class who are talkers, and I got more positive feedback from that class than I’ve ever had. And I had a good, long, pleasant conversation with one of the kids who has been a big issue for me in these past few weeks.

Things are looking up.