My Second Family

One of the most influential people in my life during high school was my youth leader.  She was always there for me when I needed to talk about things from church related stuff to the things I was going through during high school.  For the vast majority of my high school career I thought of my youth leader and the four other girls in my group as my family.

Today we met at her house along with some people from church to say goodbye to her and her husband as they leave this week for Oklahoma.  We laughed as we remembered all the good and the bad times we had together from our first youth events together down to the Wednesday craft nights we had during the last two summers.

On my drive home I realized that I want to be youth leader at some point.  I want to devote my weekends to helping youth raise funds for events to go to that help them grow in their faith.   I want to be apart of a youth's journey in some of the hardest years they'll face.

I know that right now I am not in the position to be the youth leader I want to be.  I understand that it may be years before I can be in a position where I am rooted in my faith and able to help others grow in theirs.

I just find it amazing how much influence people can have in a person's life.

- Jessie