beautiful things

This weekend I had the honor of spending two days and nights with these 8th grade girls.  It's funny how quickly time passes.  I was just one of these 8th grade girls not long ago and a dear woman named Brenda spend two days and two nights with me and my closest friends.  She taught us in Sunday School every week and poured into our young lives daily.  She shared with us how to live and cope in this world as teenagers and she really made a difference in my life.  I guess that's why I spent these two days with these seven girls.  I wanted to make a difference in their young lives.  But the truth is, they didn't need me.  They've got it more together at 14 than I'll ever will.  Their wisdom is way beyond their years and God truly shines in them.  My response to them all weekend was...I am so glad you can learn this lesson at 14 rather than 40.

But let's face it.  Fourteen is such a tough age.  The issues they face daily are real.  The gossip, the girl drama, the rumors, boys, girlfriends, classwork, parents, puberty, peer pressure, fashion, fitting in, making the team, making the grade, where to sit at lunch, who to trust, who to tell, who to cry with, who to laugh with and on and on.  Their issues at 14 are not so unlike mine at 39.  So really, who am I to be their leader?  I am just like them.  And I would not go back to junior high age if you paid me real money.  Big money.  And yet, some days, being a grown woman is so much like junior high.  Life comes full circle, I guess.  It's my prayer that I do it better this time around than last.

This song is so appropriate for my sweet small group of friends.  They really are beautiful things.