So this morning I went over to the church to see if Phil (the youth pastor) needed any help on one of the mission teams. Because of the flooding here in Cedar Rapids, the annual Des Moines trip for the Mid-Hi was canceled; the Senior-Hi decided to stay and do flood relief work here instead of going to Minnesota. Also because of the flooding, one of the youth projects that was supposed to happen in June was cancelled - Paint by Neighbors - so that is what the Mid-Hi has been doing this week.
I just sort of placed myself on the Mid-Hi team because I didn't have any work boots, basically. Plus I love working with Mid-Hi, so it was what I wanted to do! But you know, as we headed out to the work sites, I looked around me and realized that I didn't know these middle schoolers. It's a new group and I wondered how this could have happened so suddenly. I felt old. I'm 19, for goodness' sake! I started to worry about not being connected with these kids since I've not been around the youth group for the past couple of years. But I love working with Mid-Hi and I was determined to not let the fact that I didn't know these kids bring me down.
Fortunately, my worries started to dissipate once we got to the houses the group has been working on. All it takes is some introductions, encouragement to get started and a little chit-chat and song-singing while we work to get in my Mid-Hi mode. Soon I was practically one of them and I was in my element, both with the kids and the painting. Bliss.
'Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe...'
[Philippians 2:14-15]
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