I got to be a rep for YoungLife this week for the Reagan High School open house. I was kind of glad I had prepped myself with some answers about what YoungLife was before I went. (I actually read up on it on Wikipedia)
I throw around the phrase "YoungLife" on a daily basis. Sometimes things that are really familiar can be hard to break down in words, so the Wikipedia entry was helpful to be able to communicate to parents and students the joy, laughter, craziness, and friends that YoungLife represents in my mind.
I love YoungLife. I was officially introduced to it way back in 1998 when my roommate, Brenda, shared with me the purpose of her job. She was on staff with YoungLife. Many of her days consisted of meeting teens at the high school for breakfast, going to high school football games, and coming up with crazy costumes.
I was always jealous of her schedule of fun compared to my schedule of "blah" being a first year elementary school teacher. Eventually, I joined in the YoungLife fun as a volunteer. The people I served with in that ministry are forever dear to my heart. It seemed like a ministry made for me. Loving Jesus and loving to laugh--my loves.
While volunteering in North Carolina, I had heard legendary stories about "Urban YoungLife." These tales were about kids that were from huge cities and included rumors of city craziness that the suburban life could never imagine. In my wildest imagination (and I have a good one), I could not envision, that I would one day be an Urban YoungLife leader. For starters, I was missing the "urban" part.
After settling in for a few years with Houston as my new home, YoungLife found me again. It has been a beautiful and amazing journey of getting to know the dynamic life of Urban teens. I am so blessed by my friendships with them and how they help me to keep discovering a deeper love and continual need of Christ and of community.
What is YoungLife? YoungLife to my besties may mean that I can't hang with them because I'm being a teenager--which can be a very busy lifestyle! But if I rattled off the answers brainstorming in my mind -- it's dancing, laughing, singing, sometimes crying, messy-games, funny faces, funny phrases, teenagers, volunteers, discovery, friendship, camping, hiking, coffee-time, pizza --and it's lots and lots of love.
I throw around the phrase "YoungLife" on a daily basis. Sometimes things that are really familiar can be hard to break down in words, so the Wikipedia entry was helpful to be able to communicate to parents and students the joy, laughter, craziness, and friends that YoungLife represents in my mind.
I love YoungLife. I was officially introduced to it way back in 1998 when my roommate, Brenda, shared with me the purpose of her job. She was on staff with YoungLife. Many of her days consisted of meeting teens at the high school for breakfast, going to high school football games, and coming up with crazy costumes.
I was always jealous of her schedule of fun compared to my schedule of "blah" being a first year elementary school teacher. Eventually, I joined in the YoungLife fun as a volunteer. The people I served with in that ministry are forever dear to my heart. It seemed like a ministry made for me. Loving Jesus and loving to laugh--my loves.
While volunteering in North Carolina, I had heard legendary stories about "Urban YoungLife." These tales were about kids that were from huge cities and included rumors of city craziness that the suburban life could never imagine. In my wildest imagination (and I have a good one), I could not envision, that I would one day be an Urban YoungLife leader. For starters, I was missing the "urban" part.
After settling in for a few years with Houston as my new home, YoungLife found me again. It has been a beautiful and amazing journey of getting to know the dynamic life of Urban teens. I am so blessed by my friendships with them and how they help me to keep discovering a deeper love and continual need of Christ and of community.
What is YoungLife? YoungLife to my besties may mean that I can't hang with them because I'm being a teenager--which can be a very busy lifestyle! But if I rattled off the answers brainstorming in my mind -- it's dancing, laughing, singing, sometimes crying, messy-games, funny faces, funny phrases, teenagers, volunteers, discovery, friendship, camping, hiking, coffee-time, pizza --and it's lots and lots of love.
0 comments: