When I was in 6th grade, we had a choice to stay in kidz church or move up. They wanted us 6th graders to stay, since we were good helpers. To me the people who moved up to youth group were the cool ones who went on ahead of us, and I wanted to be one of them. In retrospect I realize I would have enjoyed staying in kidz church one more year. In Jr high, I suddenly became aware of social awkwardness, cliques, and the fact that I had no friends. None the less I was one of the most faithful attendees of Jr High Youth Group.
Fast-forward 11 or so years, to 3 weeks ago. I had been back in the states a week when I followed Dave to Jr High Youth Group. Jet-lagged and culture-shocked I observed just how obnoxious and awkward Jr Highers can be. I wondered what I was getting myself into.
I quickly got to know the other leaders, as some of them also attended Young Adult Word Study (YABS).
The 2nd week at youth group, we played a game that began with “everyone get a partner.” My instinct was to gravitate towards the people I knew, but us leaders should not be our own clique. I watched as all the kids got partners and some claimed the other leaders. I told myself that I was waiting to make sure everyone had a partner. I saw a girl who was alone and shyly asked her to be my partner (a leader should be friendly, regardless how afraid of rejection I may be). She agreed, but I felt bad for her being stuck with “the new person.” Then I reminded myself that although I find Jr Highers to be scary and intimidating, they think I am cool, because I’m an adult who wants to spend time with them, and they want to be my friend, so there’s nothing to be afraid of.
By week 3 (yesterday), I’m getting better at remembering names and starting to be excited about getting to know the girls better. Then one of the other leaders posed an idea – a girl’s sleepover. Us leaders plotted and planed and made lists of what we will do and what we need.
Where will we have this event? One of us lives alone in a big double-wide trailer. I even have 3 couches and 7 mattresses, so we wont even have to sleep on the floor. I’m pretty excited about this…
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