10th Post

This is my last post. I'm all finished up for the summer with my youth group, they'll be starting back at school soon. This past week has been a tough one for me. The Lord put me through a lot, but I made it out and gained a lot from it. The talks went great. After the first night, I really loosened up and became as comfortable as I could have gotten with middle schoolers. I feel more at home with high schoolers, I always have, I feel I relate better to them. So having to stand infront of middle school kids and talk to them everynight for ten minutes or so was a somewhat daunting task, but God got me through it. They seemed to respond to me, and I was able to keep their attention. The great thing about kids at that age is that you never know if you really got through to them, and if you did, when it will really hit them. It's kinda funny to watch. Most of them don't have a care in the world except for when the next activity is and if they get to be with their friends or not. The last night, my leader neglected to tell me that in addition to parents being there, the church members were invited to come and eat and then stick around for vespers to hear me talk. I was not o.k. with this at first, but then I just decided to go with it. It ended up raining and we had to go to the pavilion, so it was hard for everyone to hear me over the rain on the metal roof, but everyone seemed really pleased with what I had to say to the kids and my pastor told me I had a gift, although I think he was just being nice, but it did make me feel more confident about my speaking abilities.
At the beginning of the week, I had no idea what I was going to say to the kids and no confidence in myself. With the idea in my mind that they were going to eat me alive, I prayed to God that it would be His words and not my own that everyone would hear and that I would bring glory to His name. I know I had several people praying for me, and by the last night, I had a peace about it all. The kids were great, even on the canoe trip I partook in. I had a lot of fun and learned more about what younger kids react to in comparison with high school kids. This summer had been great and I have learned a lot through this practicum experience. I hope I can continue to volunteer at my youth group out at school when I get back so I can continue my learning further.

9th Post

Not much going on here in Ohio. Fair week is over and life is returning back to normal. Most of the kids are getting ready for school that starts in a few weeks. I have been working on my talks for camp next week. I met with the lady who is organizing camp yesterday and we went to the camp to wander around and scope out places for worship every night. She told me that the two leading songs have some great songs they found to go along with my talk each night, so I think that will be good. I know everything will come together, but I need to stay focused. I've been keeping on top of my devotionals, and it's getting easier to stick with it everyday. As I get further into it, more things keep opening up to me. I really enjoy my time I get to spend in the word everyday.