"I bet when Jesus made tables that didn't happen. But we're fallen people so..."

Claire Shumaker wins the Coolest Kid Award today. She was in Haleigh's group last week at camp where she got to wear wolf shirts and make best friend necklaces. She showed up in class this afternoon with best friend necklaces and notes for Haleigh and I. I've been making these necklaces for two years but Claire's have some of the coolest beads I've ever seen.

On the white board in my classroom the kids are writing their favorite part of camp. This actually made me laugh. 

One of the best parts of today was being reunited with 8th graders like Mer and Babb that I didn't get to see at all last week while I was at Tecumseh. At the very end of the day 7th grader Jessica stopped in my room to say hi. She's been out of school for a few weeks because she was seriously injured in a skateboarding accident. I'm so glad that she's doing well enough to come back to school again. 

KCraig is currently on a journey of a 100 days of making. Her goal is to blog for 100 days straight at lovelybeautifulmadness. Today she wrote about the importance and value of stories. As a writer, reader, blogger, counselor, listener and friend stories have always been one of my favorite things too. Stories help me learn, they make me remember things and they teach me so much about the person living that story. After attending Storyline in Chicago last Fall I realized stories aren't just in books or conversations, but our lives are stories too. These words have stuck with me and are on the wall above my desk, "Change the world around you by living a better story." Storyline Day 1 Day 2 

Glennon Doyle Melton was at Storyline (I got to give her a friendship bracelet and have her take one for Sister!) and continues to make me think with her book, her blog and the things she posts daily on her Instagram. This one got me thinking today. I hope that you love the person you are today and the person you're becoming. 

I'm still nannying, but tonight a second baby sitter came over so I could go to YL. I missed Campaigners last week while I was at Tecumseh and didn't want to have to miss again. I love this place on Monday nights because of the people that fill the Barn. We're a family here. Tonight we talked about community, friendship and our home teams. Girls like Chloe, Kaylee and Liz are people who encourage me and make my life richer. 

It's Young Life Shirt day all across the country and around the world today. I think we have a huge collection of YL shirts every Monday night but today I noticed it even more than normal. Young Life has provided a way for literally hundreds and thousands of teenagers all over the world to come to know Jesus and to find Christian friends and leaders to walk through life with. It's so freaking awesome. 

I love that we're there for each other in big and small ways. I was struggling with energy during leadership but there was no pop in the barn. I sent a text to Libby and the girl pulled through. Lib, Haley and Chloe greeted me on the other side of the door after leadership with a bottle of Diet Coke. That's one of my love languages.

 "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11 is a favorite of mine. I see these kids doing that with their friends, with leaders, with rock stars like Isaiah when he runs over and every single person gives him a high-5. The world needs as many high-5s as we can put out there.

Ryan and his guys. This is awesome. Jacob and Brock are in college now, but it just seems right to have them here with us. Karl is awesome and I love that he shows up every week with that smile on his face. 

We sat in a circle in the cubby room tonight-- me, Elise, Lulu, Chloe, Kaylee, Liz, Kaelyn and Alli Sams. "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another-- and all the more as you see the Day of Christ's return approaching." Hebrews 10:24-25 The more we do that, the more we love each other intentionally, the more were inviting God into the hear and now. The more we're living life the way it was designed to be lived. The more we will point each other to Jesus. 

 At Storyline Donald Miller said, "Jesus gives us an invitation to a very difficult story. I wonder when we tell our stories if they could be the kind that tell stories of bring light into dark." I want to be part of that so I'm living a life of purpose and meaning. Thankful for these people that I get to live life with.