Youth Appreciation Week

This last week was "Youth Appreciation Week" at our church. What this means is that each teenager is paired up with an adult for the week. The adult prays for the teenager every day of the week, and on Sunday there is a luncheon for all the teenagers and adults to sit together, chat, and listen to a guest speaker.

Craig and I were each paired up with someone. We prayed for them all week. Neither of us had met our teenager before, so it was different praying for someone that you couldn't put a face to. Unfortunately, our two teenagers were not able to come to the luncheon (they hadn't been to church in over a year...so we were expecting this...), however, we went to the luncheon anyway and "adopted" a teenager whose adult match couldn't make it.

We sat with another older couple and "their" teenager, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. It was fun talking to them and getting a teenager's perspective on things...sports, school, teachers, life, etc..
Craig and the teenage boy we "adopted" really had a great connection because both of them played basketball and tennis. They talked...pretty much the whole time about sports. It was really neat to see, as I saw both of them truly enjoying eachother.

The guest speaker was the area director of Young Life, and her speech was excellent. It definitely hit home for me. She talked about what a difference church youth groups made when she was in high school. I can definitely relate to this, as I too had a wonderful youth group growing up in middle school and high school. Young Life was a HUGE part of my life, and it really made a big impact on me as a teenager. I was so excited that the kids from our church were getting the opportunity to go to Malibu, Canada to a Young Life camp that I went to for two years in high school! I was so excited!!!!

The Youth Leader at our church wants to meet with Craig and I to get involved in a new Youth Program that is starting up at our church. I can't wait! I can't think of a better way to spend our time! I think of all the adults that invested time with my friends and I in middle school and high school...and what a HUGE difference it made, and how blessed we were.... and if I could pay that forward...I would in an instant!