I had another great talk tonight with one of my kids. She's got an amazing heart, and has grown leaps and bounds in her faith. She's got a lot that she could complain about in life, but instead pursues God relentlessly. I'm so proud of where she's at, seeing where she's come after three years, seeing how Christ has been formed in her.

Sue Rankin, one of my other leaders, is amazing. She has such a great heart, and loves the kids so much. She is easy-going, and is a blast to be with. The kids just dig her, and she connects so well with the girls. Sue and I have been doing youth ministry together for a lot of years, at least 4, I think. She's has such a servant's heart, and reminds me of Jesus in so many ways. She is always there to accentuate my weaknesses, and she's got a laugh that comes from her core and lights up the room.

Greg is my other leader. He's 19, but he's grown so much in the past year. Greg hangs with the kids the whole time and gets right into their world. He's a lot like me at that age, for better or for worse. Some of the things that used to annoy me the most about Greg, were some of my own qualities that grind on others. Greg's heart is huge, and he would give anyone the shirt of his back (or shoulder - you'll notice from some of the pictures that Greg has a VERY odd way of wearing shirts, and our mocking it perpetuates it). Greg is way ahead of where I was at when I was his age. He will continue to grow into an amazing man.

Jason has been going between Crossroads and the church he's working at over the summer down in Ohio (where his girlfriend, Jess lives). It's been pretty crazy, with him doing that on top of helping Noel with all of his teachings. I can't wait for him to start full-time as the Youth Pasor at Crossroads in September. It will be amazing.

Our talk went well tonight. We kicked it off with a great documentary video that Ken had made of one of his kids who'd received a very severe wound to a very private place. Broke the ice. Good stuff.