So, last night was my first night to volunteer with the youth group at Life Church. I spent the better part of the evening observing the antics of several hundred teenagers. I kept thinking to myself "Was I like that as a teenager???" Here are some of my observations:

1. The punk-rocker look is in. In a big way. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think back in my teenage heyday, the major fashion groups were either preppy or 90's grunge. Right? Man, skinny jeans and big sneakers and pink hair is the way to go these days.
2. Girls are still trying to break the dress codes. Nothing new there.
3. Boys are still hormonal beings. Again, nothing new... but isn't puberty the most awkward time of a person's life??? You couldn't pay me to go back to the 7th grade.
4. I think the only possible way to emerge from high school mostly unscathed is to have Jesus in your life. Otherwise, the world throws more at you than you could possibly handle. One of the reasons I am compelled to work with teenagers is because they face so many mixed messages. Someone needs to tell them "Hey! Don't listen to what the world says."

Perhaps the funniest part of my evening was when I happened upon scrawny, little junior high boy dancing silly, showing off for his friends. I said "Hey man, cool moves." And he came right up and danced silly next to me.