They make me laugh... they make me cry...

...my teens are amazing. They're hilarious, and they're thoughtful and they touch my heart.

A few days ago, I was driving with a couple of teens and we'd just picked up food. I looked over in the passenger seat and the teen that was sitting there had his hand out the window and a french fry in it. I didn't think much of it. I kept driving. Then I saw him reach in the bag and take out another one. I looked over and again he had his hand out the window with the fry in it. I asked him if he was throwing fries out the window. He replied, "No, they're hot. I'm just airing them out." And then he popped the fry in his mouth. :)

Sometimes my teens do things that I don't think they even realize that just make me want to hug them. One of the things we're doing right now, is allowing the kids to teach on Friday nights. It's been really cool to work through that with them and help to develop and teach them how to be leaders. So the other night, one of our boys was teaching. And he started quoting stuff that I'd said in other lessons. I was so proud! Not so much that he quoted me (although that was pretty cool) but that he'd been listening and that he'd understood!

I came into the office this morning and found this email from that same teen:

Hey Diandra how you doing? I wanted to send you my bball schedule so if you wanted to some of the rest of them. Thanks a lot for your support. And once again great job on Sunday. You did really well. And in case you don't know it you are a great youth pastor, and I am thankful that you are my and the whole youth group's pastor. Your compassion and love and desire is really great and I thank you for always being there for me and all of us. Not only are you my youth pastor but I also consider you a good friend of mine. I'm really glad that after Christine left, God chose you to step in and you did a wonderful job of taking over. I'm sorry if I'm being too mushy mushy but I just want you to know that you are appreciated and that you if you ever feel discouraged I can pray for you or just be a friend. Because I'm sure it can be tough sometimes, but just know that we all love you. Alright see you on Wednesday.

It is really a privilege to be able to be a part of the lives of these teens. I feel so uplifted and encouraged by them. They're amazing and they don't even know it!