On Our Way To Crazy

For a lot of teenagers, summer means a break from school, sleeping well in to the afternoon, and swimming as often as possible. But sometimes an opportunity arises to do something a little different. The youth group at GracePointe took advantage of one of those opportunities earlier this month and spent a week serving the community of Greenville, SC through a variety of service and missions projects.

Our middle school group spent the week working outside on painting and construction projects. They spent two days at Apalache Baptist Church, a church that uses all of its resources to take care of the surrounding area by providing food, home repair, clothing, and other needs to its low-income neighbors. The middle schoolers served them by helping take care of their property so they would be free to continue the work they do. They painted the church building and missionary housing and cleaned up the landscaping on the property. The other two days were spent building a community garden space in the neighborhood that will allow residents to grow and maintain their own vegetable gardens to feed both themselves and the community at large, and painting a local youth center (before taking on some of the local kids in dodgeball).

The high school group worked more directly with the people of the Greenville area through social ministry opportunities. They spent a day working in Miracle Hill Thrift Store, a ministry that operates solely on donations on volunteers, cleaning and organizing the store and helping customers. All the money made by the store goes to support a local shelter for battered women and children, and our group provided over 100 hours of volunteer support for them. Another day was spent providing a place of fun and rest for local families through face painting, balloon animals, sports and games. They used the last two days to visit low-income housing developments for senior citizens, spending time talking to them, playing cards, painting nails and sharing life with them.

We’ve worked hard in GPYG to create a culture of service, and the teenagers we work with give of their time and resources gladly. This week was no exception. It was moving and humbling to watch them work so hard in so many different ways to help take care of people they don’t even know. The middle schoolers spent all week outside in the heat, covered in paint and dirt and sweat, and left the area clean and ready to go for the fall season of ministry. The high schoolers put themselves out there in some awkward situations, talking to strangers who may or may not even be conscious of their presence, in order to make sure they know they matter and are cared about. They gave selflessly, even when they were exhausted and it was hard to tell if they were making a difference.

This is a really special group of teenagers, and I am proud and honored to get to work with them every day. They really believe that they are called to serve, that their role as believers is to help bring glimpses of the kingdom to the people around them. Sometimes that means traveling two states away, sometimes it’s spending a Saturday working at Edgehill or Hard Bargain. Often it looks less like a service project and more like a conversation, learning each other’s stories and helping to carry each other through hard times. This is a group of students who not only take care of the needs they see out in the community, but who take care of each other and the needs they see within their own community. It’s a rare thing for teenagers to have a place to be themselves, where they are free from judgment and can be honest about the issues they struggle with. These kids provide that for each other, and it’s a beautiful thing to witness.

June 1 – Dinner and Peanut(!) with new friends. It’s always weird when other people know your family games.
June 2 – Took the afternoon off for napping.
June 3 – Delicious frozen pizza for dinner. Don’t judge.
June 4 – Really fun birthday party for old acquaintances/new friends. I love it when that happens.
June 5 – Lunch date and vintage shopping. Great afternoon.
June 6 – Great turnout for ultimate frisbee night.
June 7 – A failed attempt at a college night turned into a great night with some of our old youth kids.
June 8 – Harry Potter in the park! Grilled cheese from a truck! Cupcakes!
June 9 – Got to spend the evening reading.
June 10 – Cinnamon Toast Crunch for lunch.
June 11 – Mad Men party for a great friend. We lost the newlywed game but we looked awesome.
June 12 – MAVS WIN! Unreal.
June 13 – I smoked a bunch of middle school girls in bowling. Possibly there were bumpers.
June 14 – Aaron had plans and I watched Almost Famous and made Texas Sheet Cake.
June 15 – Dinner with good friends.
June 16 – Girl! It’s a girl! Sometimes doctor’s appointments are actually fun.
June 17 – Nice afternoon shopping for swimsuits and birthday gifts.
June 18 – Lazy rainy day.
June 19 – Aaron went to Babies R Us with me and then we went to a grown up party at Pump It Up. Super fun.
June 20 – Burger and a chai milkshake post-doctor. Delicious.
June 21 – Bought my plane ticket to go home in August!
June 22 – Got my camp clothes shopping done.
June 23 – Aaron bought a onesie. Cutest thing ever.
June 24 – Movie date! Super 8 for Aaron, Midnight in Paris for me.
June 25 – Bought baby legwarmers. This is fun.
June 26 – Survived the big camp Walmart trip.
June 27 – No big deal, just 50 people decorating mexican wrestler masks for camp.
June 28 – Magically delicious barbecue lunch at Whole Foods.
June 29 – Sarah Masen! Thad Cockrell! Griffin House! U2 tribute benefit show for the Contributor.
June 30 – Halfway to babytime.