This weekend, Jill and I are down in Blacksburg for a wedding. Blacksburg is where I attended undergrad. I haven't been in here in years. It has changed immensely, yet the memories are flooding back. Ahhh, memories.
The wedding we are here for (and which I am co-officiating) is for one of the students who was in the youth group of which I was the youth director. Seeing some of these guys who were in middle school when I was in ministry to them is somewhat surreal. Technically they are young men in their 20's. But I remember them as awkward, frustrating and ultimately endearing middle school kids! (And as for the title of the post, obviously the groom is not a middle school kid, but he was at one point and that was when I first met him.) Ahhh, memories.
Its kind of weird how three different times of life are converging into this one moment: college years, my years in youth ministry, and now. The rehearsal dinner was surreal - talking with these boys...er...men and their girlfriends and fiancees. It is ironic that for as much as they have chnaged over the years, the more we talked the more they seemed to be the same guys that I went to see the Beavis and Butthead movie with. (Not my most shining moment in youth ministry!)
After the dinner, wedding party (inclduing this co-officiant and his wife) went to a local establishment to catch up on old times and imbibe various beverages. That was a lot of fun, becuase I got to talk one on one with these guys and their significant others. We talked about their plans for the future, what they were doing now, how they met their girlfriends. I got to sort of know them again. As Jill and I were listening to their stories, I couldn't help but thank God for this weekend.
I don't know if I'll ever see these guys again after today, but I am thankful for the opportunity for the memories I shared with these guys years ago and the memories we created this weekend. What a blessing!
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