Not only did we survive...

...but we also THRIVED!

We traded our three kids (thanks to Christopher and Joy) off and picked up 16 Jr High kids for the weekend!
Wow.
We took our Jr High youth group to Kansas City for a youth conference geared specifically for them - Encore (Stuck in the Middle).
It was a wonderful weekend with some of the greatest 7th and 8th graders you will ever meet!



Here's our kids as we wait for a session to begin

Here are the kids killing time doing the limbo!

Our fearless leader... knawing on an onion ring at Red Robin

Our group (minus the two who were playing video games... oops!) with Word recording artists Jackson Waters! Did I ever mention WHY we are huge fans of JW? I mean - besides the fact that they are awesome!? The lead guitarist is grew up in our church and is the son of one of our pastors! JW did the music/worship for the conference and - well, there ARE perks to knowing a member of a band!

Aside from being a little (or a lot) starstruck this weekend, we also learned a LOT! Two little nuggets I "gleaned"...

*Jr High ministry is relational. I try SO hard to teach our kids stuff. It might just be more important to imitate Christ in our realtionships and teach them some stuff accidently along the way.

*Enjoy my own pasture. See Psalm 37 for more details. Basically - God has me here right now for His purpose. If I keep looking over the fence into someone else's pasture, I might just miss out on what God's doing in my pasture.