This week has been an eye-opener for me. At our church, I'm part of the youth group. The thing I've always enjoyed about this youth group is that it's drama-free. There's never been any "coupling", we have always had a strong desire to learn more about God and His word, and everyone has meshed like a large group of siblings. However, over the last few months I've been realizing that when I first joined the youth group, there was a core group. They were quick to draw newcomers in, challenge us in growing spiritually, and get things together where everyone could go have fun. Interestingly, they didn't quite realize that they were the peer leaders of the youth group. Yes we have adult leaders, which is makes for an amazing experience as adults thirty years older than us give several hours a week to invest in us. However, it's also necessary to have some of us kids as peer leaders, setting the tone for how things work in the group. In the last two years we have lost that core group, and I'm seeing the effects of it as some important dynamics are changing.
Since last fall, but especially in the last week, I've realized that as one of the oldest people in our youth group, I need to step up to be a leader. This isn't easy for me. Several times I've rationalized with "Well, I'll only be here until May, then I'm graduating." But this doesn't excuse me from stepping up to the responsibility of helping guide the younger ones. And in doing that, I may be able to encourage others to step up to the plate as well. I want the next group of kids coming in the youth group to have as good of an experience as I did. So prayers would definitely be appreciated as I'm studying God's word, and figuring out exactly what is needed from me to help create a strong core in our youth group again.
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