My husband and I visited the middle school youth group tonight. Our daughter will be eligible to begin attending this June, which in and of itself is pretty shocking, but that's another post. We are not ones to send her off to youth group just because that's the thing you do when your kids reach that age. And yes, we have checked out every group at church that she's ever participated in. Even the nursery! So at least we're consistent. We are all for fun and games, as long as there is a purpose to them and as long as that purpose fits in with our family's values.
Anyway, it was interesting! And FUN. Very high energy. There were some things I didn't really care for, one thing I strongly didn't care for, and some things that I really liked. It was insightful to see the children of friends of mine at church that I normally only see in passing, interacting with their peers.
Our middle school youth pastor told us that the middle school youth group has 3 parts to it: Wed nights which are specifically designed for kids in public schools to bring their friends to (christian or not), Sunday mornings where older students teach younger students (training the older ones in leadership), and Sunday evenings where each grade and gender can participate in a small group for Bible study and accountability. These are led by adults. We plan to visit on Wed night several more times, and also on Sunday morning. I'm not sure about the appropriateness of visiting a small group, but I have a much better idea what those are about anyway.
Honestly, while I was observing tonight I had a hard time envisioning our daughter in that setting, but it could partly be that "I can't believe my sweet innocent little girl is old enough for this already!" thing that moms go through. It would definitely be outside her comfort zone, but that is not always bad. In fact, often it is good! The 8th graders just look soooooo much older than the 6th graders. And much bigger. Yikes.
So, we are praying for wisdom and trusting the Lord to guide us. It's such a comfort to know that He loves our daughter even more than we do!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I was shocked when my daughter was "invited" to the youth group when she was in the 6th grade. Long story short, my kids do not do youth group activities. Praying for your wisdom. =)
Blessings,
Laurie
Umm, your sentence about her being eligible in June sort of shocked me because, clueless me, I hadn't realized that the same thing applies to my oldest. At least he's showing a bit more maturity recently and might be able to handle these interactions but we are going to be very careful about what he does and doesn't do.
Post a Comment