My New, Old Youth Group Picture

Last night was one of the coolest nights I have had in a long time. My pastor from when I was in High School was having a retirement party. He has served that church for 27 years. Not only was it fun to see him, it was also fun to see my youth pastor. I haven't seen him for almost 13 years. I was also able to see some great friends from back in the day. The day when things were simple, no internet, DVD's, very few people had cell phones (certainly not teenagers), and our idea of Instant Messaging was talking on the phone for 3 hours. No I have to check my email, keep up on texting, check facebook,

In many ways this blog entry is a tribute to those friends. They had a larger influence than they know. Youth group was my place of refuge!! Life offered me many challenges and the influence youth group had on me was significant. I would love to list names, but I am afraid I would forget someone. In the end some of them were influential in my decision to go into the ministry.

Thanks to everyone, keep serving God.