Flash Back to Middle School

This weekend two of my friends came over for a sleepover and we decided to have a "theme" to the night. We made a big playlist of music that was popular when we were in middle school.  We also watched the movie "A Walk To Remember" (this came out during our middle school years). While it was a blast to sing along to the music and remember the good times, it made me think back to my  middle school days. The songs brought back memories. I never cared for middle school. I didn't have a ton of great friends. Middle school is a topic that is being recreated for me as I've been helping with our group this summer. I see situations with the kids and remember being there myself. I remember how cruel middle schoolers can be and how crushing words are. I have a friend that was a little heavier set in middle school and someone told her she would never please anyone....those words haunt her today. All these thoughts have sort of turned into a passion to show middle schoolers more. To show the students I work with that life is more than their school friends and the name calling and cliques.

I found myself in a waiting room this weekend as a friend of mine went into labor. Her father is a pastor and has a question he always asks people. He asked me this question: "What is your goal in life?"  I found my mind blank and I had to think a minute. I have a goal but I wasn't sure how to word it. The answer I voiced was "To find the ministry God is calling me to and spend my entire life doing it." He asked what I consider to be ministry. I told him that my ministry nowadays is to show middle school students that life is more than this "church" life they know. That it is more than the prayers and the songs. It is about a passionate relationship with a living God and a life lived in complete surrender to Him. THAT to me is ministry. I see God shaping my thoughts on different things, especially in the area of middle schoolers. I have been praying and thinking about being a core group leader for the 8th grade girls this year and I decided to finally commit. I have no idea what God is going to do but hoping is something I'm working on these days, so my HOPE is that God shows these girls the things I wish I had learned at their age.