eight-years

wow. I started at the church 8 years ago this week. my first group of 8th graders are now nearly graduated from college, and my current group of 6th graders were 3 years old when I first got to the church. sheesh. we left for hume my first sunday morning at the church; crazy! I only have a few, very low-res photos from those days- my first year at hume, we took about 40 students (at least that's what i counted from the picture,) and 7 counselors. we used the two little busses for transportation. all of this is a lot different from the absolutely crazy amount of people and vehicles that we will be moving up to camp this sunday morning. I was so sad to leave my hometown and my home church in 2001. I worked with high school kids back then. I wasn't really sure if I was up to the challenge of working with middle schoolers. when I got to camp, I had such an incredible group of students and counselors with me. after a week with them, I knew that I could have a life in san jose, and a life serving middle schoolers. that group of students and staff ministered to me way more than I ministered to them. just from looking at the photos I remember students like john and cassie walitsch, katie lawry, maeve condon, justin hillis, ricky deming, chad weilert, justin badal, jeff mardock and shirena lagassse. I'm so pleased to say that I still know all of them, and I'm glad to see them doing well. many of them have come back to serve in middle school ministry at different times. I'm also so thrillled to still know and be friends with those staff people as well. both niki and allyson are still here on the middle school team, 8 years later! chris shelley reamins one of my dearest friends. and through it all, I have had the same, incredible admin and friend, judie- who has helped me every bit of the way.

every year at camp, I always take a moment and remember how I felt the first time I went there, and how in that week and at that place, I felt that God had truly called me to middle school ministry in san jose. I always take a moment to reflect on the past year, and wonder what the next year will bring. I always wonder if I'll be back again next year. a lot has changed over the last 8 years. we remodeled the church, we've seen all kinds of employees come and go- a few years ago we merged with another church! that was a pretty big deal, and just recently, we picked up a new senior pastor, small groups pastor, new board, and new executive pastor. with everything that has changed, a lot has stayed the same: middle schoolers are still middle schoolers. they are the greatest group of people on earth. they respect adults, they are open to teaching, and they are so much fun to be with. as I look at that picture of deanna and i on our first day of work, I see a kid in his mid-twenties who loved Jesus, loved kids, and was sure that he could conquer the world with God's help.

and that hasn't changed one bit.

here are some photos from that first year at hume: