Teenagers

When I started substitute teaching I refused to do high school.  As in, I put on my application that I would be willing to teach grades k-8.  After teaching one kindergarten class for a couple of days, that immediately changed to grades 1-8. But I digress.

High schoolers freaked me out a little.  They're kind of, well, they're kind of punks sometimes.  And not so lovable. The cuteness has worn off by that point.  They're just a big ball of hormones and B.O.  And they read Twilight.  And I was pretty sure that I wasn't cool enough for them anyway.

It's just like how Trevor and I knew that we were not called to be youth pastors.  Funny, most people assumed that as young people in ministry that we should be youth pastors.  But I would surely let people know that we did not have an affinity for teenagers.

Then my little boy started kindergarten.  I got involved with the goings on of his school (which goes from K-12 grade).  Soon I found myself volunteering to help with the Christmas program.  Of all things, what did I end up doing?  Working with a bunch of high school kids.

A choir of high school kids.

High school kids who had never been in a choir before.

Yeah.

I was handed a list of 11 songs for us to sing for a performance that was 4 weeks away.

Eleven songs. Four weeks.

And I was informed that most of the choir members were voluntold to join the choir.

Right.

I walked into the practice room that first day with apprehension.  I had that feeling of foreboding that usually means a disaster is headed my way.

And I was met by the greatest group of kids that wanted to sing. At least they were nice enough to pretend like they wanted to sing in front of me.  God bless them.

They worked their butts off.

They skipped lunches.

They came in to practice on school vacation days.

And when the day of the performance came, they brought down the house.

No one expected this little group of high schoolers to show up with so much heart.

The audience cheered, clapped, and sang along.

There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

These teenagers surprised everyone.

Especially me.

Because they got to me, and now I can't shake them.

They're my kids now.

(Plus, one of the guys noticed I dyed my hair today. Seriously!)

Have you ever been surprised by someone that you didn't really give a fair chance to begin with?  Makes me think I should try to be friends with people who are Michigan fans.

Nah.

Baby steps.