Our Youth Group meetings took a page from this week’s Memorial Day observance and asked YG members this question “Who would you honor on Memorial Day?”

The answers varied: Grandmother, Grandfather, Dad, Mom, rapper — but the uniting factor was the impact each one had on individual YG members. One member learned from her Dad to be nice to people, forgive people, and to be an adventurer. Another chose a grandfather she never got to meet, but selected him because of the enormous impact he made on his daughter, who in turn impacted this young lady’s life. Another mentioned a young rapper whose life was cut short by violence. The YG member said the rapper had worked hard to turn his life around and was giving back in positive ways to his community when he was killed. It is sad that “He didn’t get to become who he was going to become.”

From those responses Mrs. Patti shared: “We learn from everyone around us. Don’t miss out. Reach out to your family members and ask them about their childhoods. Don’t lose your history. Ask your people about their backgrounds — what they liked when they were young, and what they liked to do when they were your age. Learn about your people — don’t let those stories be lost.

“People come in and out of our life and we’re always learning something. I heard a podcast this past week by a pastor who said we all have resurrection opportunities every day. You always have an opportunity to do better than the day before. We can grow and succeed and do better. It’s because of the people who came before us, who taught us — even though we may not have completely understood it at the time — but they were speaking to us. As God-followers we are redeemed every day. If I mess up after this meeting, I have tomorrow to do better. There’s always the opportunity to look behind but also to look forward.”

If you’re in middle or high school and want to join the Wednesday night Youth Group Zoom meetings for middle school or high school, shoot Mrs. Patti an email: sjecyouthgroup@gmail.com. Adult leaders are Mrs. Patti, Mr. and Mrs. Nichols, Bree Lintz, Mike Olivor, and Joe Miramontes.

See you online!