I have a book that I am doing that is supposed to help me with writing. What it really does is ask great questions that help you put emotions and memories onto paper. I'm trying to be more disciplined about hand writing things these days. Anyway, I'm rambling.

Today one of the questions I worked on was centered around high school and friendships. It asked "who did you hang out with in high school? who did you spend the most time with? were they good influences or bad influences? what did you learn?"

Those are some really great questions and it was kind of fun to go back and think about high school. As much as we all complain about how bad high school was, it also was wonderful and fun.

But it started me thinking about the high schoolers I work with. So much of what I do with my youth group and how I interact with them comes from what I learned from spending time with my youth group in high school. When I dream about what I want our youth group to look like and what I want these kids to experience when they come together, I find that I want them to experience what I had. I want them to experience the friendship, the support, the pranks, the laughter, the love, the learning. Sure we didn't all get along all the time, but when push came to shove we did.

Sometimes I forget how much my past really influences my present. And how my experiences shade what I want for others to experience. I don't think this is a bad thing. Obviously, what we've lived is what we try to recreate for others- especially if it was a wonderful experience.

But I do think that I need to try and remember that it can't always be the same. And won't always be the same. And that my teenagers will form a group identity of their own. And I hope that in ten years they can look back and feel the same joy at their memories as I do at mine.