The Joys of Junior High

I love my job.

Really!

Being a Junior High Youth Minister definitely has its ups and downs, but I simply just enjoy it! Sure, there’s the whole “deep” feeling of fulfillment and joy in knowing that somehow I’m making an impact on the lives of these little boogers - - er- - blessings… even though I know I won’t reap the benefits in this lifetime, a girl can have hope! So that’s nice to think about every so often and will keep me going when I need it. But besides all that, the kids are stinkin hilarious! Whenever I’m with them, at some point during our time together, I end up doubled over in laughter, either in hilarity or straight up disbelief at what just came out of their mouths. They just have such a…um…..particular view on life…. For example, there’s always drama at youth group as to who is going out with who, so one night one of the boys came up to me:

Boy: Hey Trish, did you know that Sam and Lauren are going out?
Me: Um….no, I guess I didn’t realize that…
Boy: Yeah, they hugged like, twice. It’s official.

Oh, if only it was that easy! Haha! This was from the same boy with whom I had the following conversation only a few weeks earlier:

Boy: (so proud) Hey Trish…soooo, I threw up last night
Me: Ummm….good job?
Boy: Yeah, it was awesome. I was at a friends house and had too many Ramaan Noodles and Chocolate Milk, so it came out as brown noodles. It was awesome.
Me: ……*blink blink* Congratulations…

Then there’s the stuff that happens during CCE class when I get to sub for the teachers who aren’t able to come. True story, the classes are pretty boring, so whenever I teach, I try to make it a little more interesting and lively – you know, so the kids don’t associate their faith with a total bore and yawn session. But even with all my efforts, one of these kids was having a hard time staying awake during class. Homeboy was moping around, head on his desk, “soooooooooooooo tired” so he could hardly concentrate. Truthfully, I was okay with it, because if he was quiet, it was one less kid I had to tell to listen up. However, about 10 minutes after the boy was seriously ini dreamland, he suddenly became animated and overly talkative – to the point where I couldn’t even hear myself think anymore. “Hey! I thought you were tired and couldn’t even move!” I said. He looked a little shocked, but then, threw his hands up, shrugged his shoulders and said in a meek little voice “um…ta daa!”.

And sometimes I just worry about the future of our world. Seriously. When talking to the kids about how the coming of Christ divided history B.C. and A.D. (before Christ and Anno Domini), one of the 8^th grade girls, in all seriousness said “wait…what? You mean AD doesn’t mean “After Dinosaurs”??”… wow.

So yes, there are moments of burn out and I wonder if I’m ever going to win the lottery so I can just go travel and do mission trips… but I am more and more thankful every day for the time I have with these kiddo’s, and while I’m supposedly the one helping them, they’re helping me learn to live with more simplicity and enjoy the little things in life.