Would I have done that?

There are a lot of things that my youth in youth group do that I wonder if I would have done them when I was their age.  Unfortunately, growing up I never really had a tie to a youth group so I missed out on a lot of fun and spiritual growth.   I think that I would have grown faster socially if I had been part of a youth group.  I still think that it would be hard for me to do some of the things are youth do.  I don’t think I would have had the motivation and drive to do them. 

Do you think, as a middle schooler, you would have walked up to a random church and engrained yourself in their youth group?  One of my youth did just that.  She didn’t have a church home and her family didn’t attend church, so she decided that she was going to find a church and a youth group to join.  One day she decided to walk up the street, she came to our church.  She came in and joined the Sunday school class.  That same day our youth were singing in church and she decided she was going to as well.  Her first time in our worship service, she went to the front and sang with the youth group.  It was amazing, but I know that would have never had the drive or the courage to put myself in that situation. 

Do you think that you would go thirty one hours without eating? Each year our youth hold a can drive where they attempt to collect over 5000 cans of food to give to our local community, they spend three months collecting cans and raising money.  One weekend in late October is when they deliver the food to the local food shelter.  They spend Friday night organizing the cans and then going to a local grocery store to purchase more canned goods with the money they raised.  The next morning they go to the shelter and deliver all the food.  It is amazing how hard they work, but the most amazing thing is that they do all of this without eating.  They go from lunch time on Friday until late Saturday evening without eating to simulate what it is like to homeless and hungry.  I don’t think that I would have been able to make that commitment as a youth.  That shows great spiritual growth and maturity.

Do you think you could get up in front of the congregation and deliver the message on a Sunday morning?  Or how about committing to a Friday night event and leading a youth led worship for your peers?  We have youth that have not only gotten up in front of the church to deliver the message, but have also given up their Friday nights to worship with their peers.  I know of some adults that wouldn’t even get up in front of the congregation or their peers to deliver a message.  It is truly amazing to watch them.  They have such confidence and poise when they are in front of the groups.  When I was their age, I don’t think you could have gotten me to do that.

Would you of been able to create movies and deliver a message through acting?  I know that when I was a youth it would have been hard to create a video project for school or youth group.  I have youth that do it all the time now and they do such a great job.  I have one youth that has a gift for it.  She has such an eye for it that I truly believe she should go to film school.   If I could have been half as creative as my youth are then I would of gotten better grades in school.

There are so many things that my youth in youth group do that I probably never would of done as a youth.  They impress me every day.  I wish everyone could see the amazing things they do and the amazing people they are.  They are our future,  I am so proud of them and can’t wait to see what the next thing around the corner is that I would have never done as a youth!