I was a little intimidated when Matt was hired as the interim youth pastor at Church of the Epiphany. I was, for the most part, absent from my church’s Youth Group scene. A combination of rotating staff, high school band and my own insecurities contributed to my aversion of weekly gatherings. So how on earth was I going to deal with a group of kids that I assumed were just like I was in high school?

Oh man, I was so wrong. These guys and girls are so much more SOLID than I was at 15, 16, 17. They know what they believe, but moreover, they know WHY they believe it. It’s not enough for them to simply parrot what their elders have taught them. Their community is authentic, and their bonds run deep.

I had the opportunity to spend Friday evening with several of the girls from Epiphany, most of them in college by now. It was refreshingly suprising how solid their convictions are. There wasn’t a trace of wishy-washyness is any of them, a characteristic I’ve unfortunately modeled for years. I loved getting to know these ladies, and I can’t wait to learn even more about them. Thanks for an AWESOME ice-cream + Mulan + theological discussion night, girls!

See how gorgeous they all are? Even when they’re pretending they hate having their photo taken. 🙂

I think this was the point where we were watching the music video for “Friday.” And “My Jeans.”

We all brought different parts of an ice cream sundae, and it was delish. This is Bethany being entirely too stoked for Christmas sprinkles.

“OK guys, Mulan or Cool Runnings?” ON VHS.

Kate also likes to pretend that she doesn’t like to have her photo taken. I’m going to cure her.

Emmi and Kristen! They have the best hair ever. I’m pretty jealous.

Once again, Bethany making faces. I may have to start a file of images of just her. BTW- that image on the left cracks me up every time I see it.

Happy Monday!