"Young people are in a condition like permanent intoxication, because youth is sweet and they are growing " ~Aristotle

The teenage years can be a wonderful time of life, if you have good people surrounding you.  I was blessed in my youth to have a wonderful network of Christian friends in the congregation where I grew up.  Hal, Kathy, Debbie, James, Betty, Rachel, and Mark provided that great friendship, and we had a wonderful time together in those years.

We would all sit up front during worship - the guys sat on the 2nd row, and the girls on the 3rd.  Occasionally, one of the guys would do something that would give us girls the giggles, but for the most part, everyone was focused on the reason we were there - to worship God.  Every Sunday night after services, we would go out to eat, and then drive around.  The scenario was usually the same - the girls would walk over to the guys, and ask them where they were going, and Mark would always say, "To heaven - wanna come?"  We usually ended up at Pizza Hut, where Mark would lead us in prayer before we ate.  We always got Mark to word the prayer, because he had the timing down to a science - he would begin his prayer with the ending of a song on the jukebox, and end it right before the next one started up.  We would sometimes do crazy things after we ate - like the time we decided to pack 8 people in Mark's little Volkswagen.  Some of us worked together at Swensen's Ice Cream Parlor for a while, and that was great fun as well.  Even though we did some crazy stuff, we knew by being with each other we would never get into trouble.  We knew that everyone there was committed first and foremost to living for Christ.  What a wonderful thing to have!

We were also all in the same Bible class, and the ones of us who went to the same school would often meet in the library after lunch to "cram" for our memory verse memorization.  We watched and participated in each other's spiritual growth, and would encourage our brothers who began participating in the public worship.  

Eventually, we all grew up and left.  All are still faithful to the Lord, one is a gospel preacher now, and one became my sister-in-law.  I don't see most of them very often, but we are forever bound by the growing up and learning we did together during those volatile teenage years.  And when I do see them, it always feels familiar and easy, and conjures up such happy memories.

From my church peers, I learned more than I can ever list here.  I learned the great value and application of Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, and how there really is strength in numbers.  They helped me to learn at an early age the concepts of loyalty and friendship, and that making friends of God's people FIRST has huge implications as it relates to the growth of my own faith.  Hal, Kathy, Todd, James, Betty, Debbie, Rachel and Mark all hold a special place in my heart, and I'm thankful for the memories we share.