2 Groups

So its been quite awhile since i have posted anything..but now i have been through two week of having groups.  My first group was a group of high school students from Northern California and my second group was a group of high school students from Idaho (the Boise area).  These two groups were extremely different but a lot of fun in their own ways.  My first group was a quite group of Asian students.  They were really chill and went along with what we were doing fairly well but were a little stressed out by not knowing the schedule and were taken out of their comfort zones over and over again.  The whole experience was rather stretching for them.  Now my second group from Idaho was just an overall great group to host.  This group of kids and there interactions with each other and their leaders reminded me so much of my youth group growing up.  They were just a fun group of kids to be around and they were devoted to living their lives for Christ.  From the beginning they were asking how this experience in LA could be taken home with them to bring change to Boise.  This is what we try to stress all the time for our groups but this group came in knowing the importance of making this week impact their whole life and not just for this one week. I was impressed with their spiritual maturity and i was excited to challenge them spiritually.  

As i was leading this group this week i couldn't help but reflect back to my summers in high school and realize how blessed i was to get to experience the opportunities that were placed before me.  I know that my summers in youth group and the mission trips to Canada, to Mexico, to Indian Reservations, to New Orleans, to Romania, to Colorado, each of these trips had a significant impact on my life.  I know that i would not be who i am today without these trips.  There is something amazing that goes on in the life of a teenager when they are taken out of their own selfish living, for even just a week, and go and serve other people.  There is personal growth, spiritual growth, and just an overall understanding that the world is bigger than the place that they have grown up in.  I was blessed to begin to understand others outside of my world at a young age.  I believe God's voice can be heard more clearly when you take a break out of your daily life and don't have all the distractions of cell phones, and TV, and whatever else distracts and can really just pause and think about Him.  I think it was in those summers with my youth group that i really started to understand God's calling on my life and see that he has much more in store for me than i could imagine.  I am excited to follow His calling wherever that may be.