I love my kids

Tonight we had our youth Christmas party, and for those of you who weren't aware, I am the interim youth pastor, having inherited the youth group during the pastoral transition. For those of you who knew me when I started Bethany or before, you know I hated teenagers and thought them to be ridiculous creatures.

They are ridiculous, often. And I love them. Or at least, I love mine. LOVE them.

This was the first annual J.P. Peterson Smith Seasonal Decorating Challenge. We started with an unrelated activity --- walking around the neighbourhood and handing out invitations to our Christmas Eve service. My kids did not complain, and they made haste and got the job done. I love them. Then we had hot chocolate. Then I introduced the challenge, split them into teams, and sent them to make Christmas cards for myself and my intern, Joey (one team making cards for one, the other for the other - you get it). Paul judged them, and the top four card makers won a decorating item. Then we did a candy cane hunt, and the team who found the most won a little Christmas tree with lights. Then they decorated --- one team Joey's office, one team my office. I love my office, and my kids!

Team Joey won the coveted J.P. Peterson Smith Award for Outstanding Seasonal Decorating (a "trophy" they got to sign --- really, a pylon) because they broke the decorating tie by answering questions about J.P. Peterson Smith (who is not a real person, but I had shared some info about him earlier). Daniel is so funny - someone turned around and asked me if J.P. Peterson Smith was real, and I said, "He's real in my heart..." And so when Paul says, "what do you know about J.P. Peterson Smith?", Daniel matter-of-factly says, "He's alive in our hearts" - too funny :) He also remembered that J.P. had a dog name FeeFee, but called him Fred around his friends because he was embarrassed to have a sissy dog.

Then we watched Homestarrunner stuff on the big screen --- my kids are just learning to love it, and so they're as excited about it as I was when I first found it. It's fun to be able to share that with them now.

Did I mention that I love my kids?