225,600 Minutes Ain't Got Nuthin' On 208

Tonight was my last night at 208, the midweek high school ministry at the Grove City Vineyard. I wish that every day could be my last day. I don't really have a lot of gushing, romantic things to say about it, because that's just not who I am...but I do want to just laugh a little at Chavis...whose ride left him because he kept getting out of the car to come say goodbye and ask me to please stop by sometime to say hi; or to smile at Ramone who pulled me aside to say, "Hey, before we get started tonight, I really want to say that I don't like that you're leaving. It matters to me, and I'm not being sarcastic or funny or anything like that. I know I'm new around here, but these people (pointing to the Briggs crew) tell me that you're alright, and I know that's true. You matter to me, and I hate that you're leaving." He's the same kid who a few weeks ago came up to me to tell me "how truly changed he is by this place." The thing is...it's NOT about me in these statements. It's really not. Sure, it's nice to be appreciated. Haha...these kids don't KNOW that it's not about me yet though. They won't know that for a few years still. But we know it, don't we? That's what so great about being on this side of being a teen believer, and seeing God work in their lives. We get to see how God is working through them to yank them towards himself by using us to do it. We're just loud mouth idiots who are stupid enough to work with THESE younger loud mouth idiots, eh? And we do it every week, every Wednesday for 208 hours a graduating class...hoping that they'll understand it's about way more than these 208 hours and yearn for something more than the 208 hours they'll see us on Wednesdays and ask God to show up in their lives outside of Wednesday nights. Then maybe, just maybe, at the end of the year, one of these students will have 225,600 minutes of a life filled with the most amazing and life-changing God to look back on...rather than 52 silly hours of youth group with some lady named Angie blabbing on and on up front...