"I don't think I can come because that's my back to school party with my grandma."

I'm officially back in the real world. This morning I woke up and headed to work. Not the kind with a wooden name tag and a back pack, but the kind at a school with hundreds of other teachers. The whole HSE district starts the year together with a huge meeting and then splits into schools for more meetings. After a whole 10 weeks of being outside the majority of every single day, it's very strange to be sitting behind a desk again taking notes and preparing for students. 

Highlights of school: 

We had pizza and Diet Coke for lunch. Can't beat that.

I got a friendship bracelet from the new music student teacher Katie. I think we'll be friends and I'll find a way to get her to visit FBC.

I got to see all my school friends like Trulock, Hodgin, Jeannie, Jan, Alex and so many other fun people. It's strange not having KCraig or Kriger here--they will be missed.

Being back in Fishers also means being back in the Young Life swing of things. The Devoe's barn was finished over the summer and it's not the spot for everything YL in HSE. We are so incredibly lucky that they so freely open up this space for us and that they built much of it with us in mind. This "barn" is pretty nuts and I'm so excited for this to be our home.

We had leadership first and then all of the kids started to arrive. We had freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors and alumni in attendance which is pretty sweet.

I love getting to see all of these people in one place after being away all summer and going on camp trips with some of them. I love that they're still inviting new friends to come check things out and that they're excited about investing their time here.

Blaire, Nick and Joe lead worship for us tonight which was pretty awesome. I love when we can highlight these kids' talents and give them the opportunity to shine.

When we broke up into small groups I went with the freshmen girls upstairs. We talked about the highlights of our summers, what our mission as YL and as Christians is, and people we can be prayerfully pursuing. I'm so excited to see this group transition into HS and grow in so many ways this next year.