The Six

The quiet rock. The time manager. The fearful leader. The energizer bunny. The mediator. The planner.

I call them "The Six".

I started at Hopeful in August of 2005 and it wasn't long before I noticed the special aspects of these six youth. They all brought something different to the table and yet they seemed to be drawn together by some invisible connection. I had been given the task of turning around a youth group that had gone through some rough times and these six were going to be the foundation of what was to come. Like a new coach I wanted to see what I was working with and off I went to try and see what these youth had inside of them. What I found was a myriad of talents and convictions that if mixed together with God's love was a powerful concoction that would spread like wildfire.

Patience. They all had this unbelievable ability to be patient with each other. They seemed to unconsciously realize that in order to work together as a group they were going to have to accept each other's idiosyncrasies. They didn't try and change each other into carbon copies of one another, instead they took each person and molded the group instead. They took individual personalities and put them together into a collage of one another.

Love. There are many different types of love present in this world we live in. The kind that was present in this group was what would you find in a close knit family. They honestly cared for what was going on in the other's life. If there was a success they celebrated, if there was a defeat they supported, and if there was a tragedy they grieved. They were excited to see each other and they knew that even on their worst day a smile would be presented to them if needed.

Understanding. This group was not perfect by any means. They fought sometimes and even threw some cruel comments at each other. This is a normal part of life and they recognized that forgiveness was a huge part of any group dynamic. They had an understanding that even during a bad moment that they were still a family and at the end of the day...they would still be together.

This group of young people is a great example of how we should all live our lives. Imagine if in your own family there was a degree of patience, love, and understanding. Imagine if you looked at your family as a team that was taking on the world with God at the forefront. What would happen if love was the biggest emotion present in your house? What battles would be dropped and what accomplishments would occur? Could your home life benefit from trying to understand where everyone is? If the term "I forgive you" became common...what would happen? Each family is filled with different personalities and convictions, but imagine if you could take those differences and glue them together into a powerful entity of love?

We are all different, but with God's love we become the same.

Lauren, Randall, Sammy, Jeb, Mike, Justin...........

The Six.