"I twisted my neck vertebrae so I had to wear a neck brace. I was in 5th grade so of course I bedazzled it. But then I got to school and was embarrassed so I zipped my North Face all the way up all day to cover it up."

Wyld Life is the craziest. Today someone said to me, "So you teach Junior High. Is "awkward" still a thing?" I think that these 7th graders have been told they're awkward so many times by each other and the world around them that it's their default word in every situation. But they're so much more than that. 

How beautiful is room full of 7th and 8th graders who will all dab at once? If you take time to sit down with them you'll discover that they're this awesome combination of things--they're smart and they ask hard questions, they're insanely goofy and incredibly mature, they're loyal to the end to some of their friends but subtweeting is way too common, they're creative and original and dying to fit in. You'll find it all in a room of Junior High kids. We want to love them right where they are.

Getting to be a Wyld Life leader for these girls is something I don't ever want to take for granted. It's the best to be able to be their teacher and then to come here and connect with them on a totally different level. I love that we laugh till the point of tears over Grace Tully's stories and then two minutes later have some great epiphany about God's perfect timing in our lives. 

Well, well, well. Here we are... still at the DeWolf's house. I thought I was moving back today (for the second time) when I walked in to find a man painting the ceiling again. He was actually tall enough to reach the ceiling without a ladder or step stool. Very impressive. Cross your fingers for tomorrow.