Mid-Hi

So this morning I went over to the church to see if Phil (the youth pastor) needed any help on one of the mission teams. Because of the flooding here in Cedar Rapids, the annual Des Moines trip for the Mid-Hi was cancelled; the Senior-Hi decided to stay and do flood relief work here instead of going to Minnesota. Also because of the flooding, one of the youth projects that was supposed to happen in June was cancelled - Paint by Neighbors - so that is what the Mid-Hi has been doing this week.

I just sort of placed myself on the Mid-Hi team because I didn't have any work boots, basically. Plus I love working with Mid-Hi, so it was what I wanted to do! But you know, as we head out to the work sites, I look around me and realize that I don't know these middle schoolers. It's a new group and I wonder how this could have happened so suddenly. I felt old. I'm 19, for goodness' sake! I start to worry about not being connected with these kids since I've not been around the youth group for the past couple of years. But I love working with Mid-Hi and I was determined to not let the fact that I don't know these kids bring me down.

Fortunately, my worries started to dissipate once we got to the houses the group has been working on. All it takes is some introductions, encouragement to get started and a little chit-chat and song-singing while we work to get in my Mid-Hi mode. Soon I'm practically one of them and I'm in my element, both with the kids and the painting. Bliss.