Anyway, here is the story of my weekend...
We had to be at the buses at 9:00am and we had 37 people going. For a small church, I was pretty excited about those numbers. Once I got there, I was asked to take one of the chaperones back to her house in order to pick up something she forgot, then I had to go pick up a child who didn't have a ride. Once we got everyone needed back to the church, Wayne (the youth leader) pulled me aside and asked how I felt about forging some signatures. WHAT???
It turns out that 2 of the boys who lived with an uncle who didn't speak English didn't have a permission slip. So I did it. I know it was probably wrong, and I even made the signature really manly looking just in case anyone questioned it. I didn't feel too horrible about it because the uncle knew they were coming.
Wayne asked me to drive the church van. Um, no! I told him that I hadn't been a member long enough to wreck it, so I got to ride in the front seat with him. I learned rather quickly that that was not a good decision because Wayne likes to randomly slam on his brakes for a laugh and to scare the kids. I wore my seatbelt the entire time and I felt bad for the kids who were asleep as he slammed on his breaks.
We had 17 people in a 16 passenger bus. Wow! Needless to say, it started stinkin' after a little while. We had 4 types of children that came with us:
1. Country boys decked out in their camo and work boots
2. The Good girls who were there to have fun and worship
3. The Drama girls!
4. The Thugs
The Thugs apparently thought I was very attractive (who wouldn't) and constantly asked for my number and the whole weekend consisted of someone tapping me on the shoulder to tell me that "So and so likes you." I don't even know these boys real names.
I called them:
Money
Hollywood
Tay
Tay (Not to be confused with the first Tay)
Driq
and I know that I'm forgetting one.
I think that it was one of the Tays that kept asking for my number. Maybe Tay #2?
When I went to YEC when I was younger, they held it at MTSU, but now it is held at the Nashville Convention center which isn't large enough for everyone, so they have to do 2 sessions. They had the Skit Guys there, and they were funny as always. They even made an inappropriate joke, which I thought was hilarious.
They also had Joe Castillo, the sand artist, there. He was awesome!! I thought he tried to plug his stuff too much, BUT once he started doin' his thang, I forgot about the constant plugging.
I didn't enjoy the Band they had either, they were ookkkkaayy. But I'm just not into that harder rock stuff. It's hard for me to worship that way. After that service, SO MANY youth came forward to accept Christ, but I couldn't help but pray that the decision was real and not based on emotions.
After that service, we went to Opry Mills mall. During this little visit one of the kids got sick on the bus which caused another kid to get sick on the bus. The Bass Pro Shop was wonderful about helping get the kids clean up and even gave us cleaning supplies for the van.
I had a rude awakening when we got to the mall. I'm old and no one wants to shop with me. WHAT??? I had to explain to someone that I was younger than most of the celebrities that they though were cool, except for Miley Cyrus. I eventually convinced a girl Katie to eat dinner with me. While we were eating, she shared with me that she was living with her sister until her mother gets out of Alcohol Rehab. Wayne had shared with me earlier that she hadn't accepted Christ yet, but she was dealing with it. I thought about talking about that with her, but I didn't.
At one point during the trip, one of the other van drivers accidentally let a 4-letter dirty word slip as she was taking the van on 2 wheels around a corner. The kids on the bus promised they wouldn't let Wayne know,haha. I told her not to feel bad because it wasn't a word that they hadn't of heard before.
I was placed in a hotel room with 5 girls, including me. The DRAMA girls!!!!!!! Everytime one of the girls would leave the room, someone would start talking about her. When they looked at the mirror before they left the room you would hear," Dang, I sexy" or "I'm lookin' good!" I wish I had just a smidgen of that confidence when I was younger,haha. I told the girls that either someone people would have to sleep 3 in a bed or one person on the floor, but I wasn't sleeping on the floor or with 2 other people in my bed. One of the girls said in response, "You wanna bet?"
If looks could kill...
I told her that it wasn't up for discussion and if she had a problem with it she could find somewhere else to sleep.
I did have a really good talk with one of the drama girls that night. This girl has leadership qualities coming out of the wazoo, but she uses them for evil and not for good.
The next morning, we went to our final big worship at the convention center, and it was so good! Ed Newton was the speaker and I had heard him before at Super Summer and I loved what he had to say. During the invitation, 2 of my Drama girls went down front and rededicated their lives and that Katie girl walked down front by herself to accept Christ as her personal Lord and Savior. I was so excited for her!
I was also able to chose the Breakout session we went too, and I chose to one where Michael Holland was playing. I forgot how good he was at playing the drums! While I was there, I was also able to see Nikki and her husband Jacob from Bartlett Hills Baptist Church. I love them! The guy who preached talked about how youth should be leaders. We had 2 youth members stand up to say that they wanted to be leaders in the church.
I think I'm going to have a talk with the girl who stood up. I love this girl, and I think that if she was in my youth group, then we would be friends. This girl though doesn't understand how to love and how to be a leader. I think that she wants to be a leader to "her kind" not to the Thugs and the Drama queens. She doesn't understand that many of these kids come from homes where the parents tell their children to "F**K off" in the morning, instead of "I Love you" and that some of these children have to worry about their moms stealing their pain pills after surgery or that someone children have their moms in rehab. It's a lot harder to be a Christian when they don't have that role model at home.
I had a wonderful time with the youth and my prayer is that I can show them love and compassion, and learn to listen to these kids.
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