5.04.2007

The Power Of Junior High Friends

Last night I was at the rehearsal dinner for the wedding I'm officiating tonight. Believe it or not, there are a total of 24 people in the wedding party! The bride and groom each have 12 friends that they have asked to share in their day.

As we hung out last night, and as story after story was shared, an interesting theme began to develop. The vast majority of these friendships could be traced back to their junior high years. I was reminded of the fact that friendships made in junior high almost always shape the future character of our students and many of these friendships last into the adult years. I found myself asking these questions:

- Is our ministry doing enough to acknowledge the power of friendships?

- Are we really helping students navigate the 'friendship waters' safely?

- Have we helped them develop the skills of choosing good friends, being a good friend and getting out of unhealthy friendships?

- Are we helping our students recognize that who they become will, in large part, be determined by who the choose as friends?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kurt-

I just completed a 3 week series called, "The Anatomy of a Friendship". Brains= Chosing Good Friends, Hands= Serving your friends, Heart= Loving your friends to show them Christ. It went over really well and lead to some good discussions.

Definitely a topic worth returning to often!

Heather McTaggart said...

Now this would be a series I would INSIST that my son Matt attends! So...my vote...GO FOR IT!