Happy Birthday to The Difference!

Our Thursday night youth ministry has their one year birthday tonight! What a year it has been!

It was about 14 months ago that Jeff told us he wanted to step away from youth ministry. What a blow! We prayed, discussed, and went in circles. All of those circles lead back to Kris Gray. Gotta tell ya…she wasn’t necessarily quick to warm up to the idea. Her last words were, “Fine, if you want a youth pastor who doesn’t want to be the youth pastor, I’ll do it.” Done. That may sound funny, but sometimes the best leaders are the ones who aren’t seeking it.

And she’s the best. She took about a dozen students that were roaming around our church and attacked a trecherous deadline of one month to launch a midweek youth ministry. They all worked hard and the launch was very successful.

Fastforward to a year later…Our church literally crawls with teenagers. They are in love with Jesus and have a healthy perspective of failure and forgiveness in the eyes of Christ. They serve, they stand in the way of the coffee pots, and they stereotypically break nearly everything in the church. And we wouldn’t change that for the world.

I am proud of Kris, her team, and these students. They are everything that we’ve always wanted for the youth of North Creek. They are not a sub-culture in the midst of our agenda, but they are a part of the bigger picture and are dedicated to the progression of our dream.

And Kris, well, she’s warmed up to the idea of being the youth pastor. But, if you’ve ever had a conversation with her, you already know that.

So, congrats to all of you! We love you, believe in you, and are so glad that you are a part of this church. Mark and I look forward to celebrating with you tonight!