Seniors

The past few weeks, I have spent a ton of time getting ready for all of our senior activities. We make a big deal out of our seniors’ graduation. We will make a video honoring them and showing highlights from the year, recognize them on a Sunday Morning at Rock Creek, have a seniors dinner for family and seniors, and then I am taking them to St. Louis for three days.

I demand these events to be the best and everyone who works for me hates this time of year because I can be very demanding. I want to come up with creative ways to show them how much I care and give parents opportunities to make incredible memories. I want them to walk away seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling, and experiencing how much they mean to me.

As I started thinking back to the past year and what these seniors have done...I was blown away. They doubled the size of every trip we took this year, gave $1500 to buy Kenyan orphans new shoes and backpacks, gave $500 for Peru students to get new computers, pulled off a dinner theater in front of 1,000 people, built relationships with the residents at the Union Rescue Mission, saw over 25 of their peers baptized, and are getting teams together to participate in Relay for Life.

When they were juniors, they were not looking forward to this year...mostly because there were only 4 of them who were involved. When we have our seniors’ dinner, there will be 25 seniors to honor. The reason is simple.... investment. Those 4 took a challenge to live a senior year that was not about them. One by one, a new senior would come along and begin to do the same. I watched as each new relationship was formed and then another and then another. To watch them live the vision of the student ministry has been on of the most rewarding years of student ministry I have ever had.

As many student ministries grow, it becomes hard to continue to have close relationships with students. Some student pastors and student staffs just give up and put all their energy into a once a week event. I fight very hard for our ministry to stay away from that path. It is very hard work...but then again...making disciples always has been.

I am going to miss this group very much. I am going to miss their leadership and friendship. I am excited to see what God is going to do...because God has big plans for these seniors. I have never seen a so many leaders in one class with so many gifts. My prayer is that they would live a life that only God can get credit for. I pray that they will throw up on the idea of the American dream, and consume the life that Jesus has called them to. If that happens...the world will change because of these seniors! I can't wait to watch...what a story...God is good!