Ok guys I'm not a senior or anything but I do have about three years of youth-groupage with Steven, and I love this guy a lot and I figured there was nothing wrong with sharing a few memories.
I guess the first I knew of Steven was him and Sarah doing silly videos for us as kids in Faith in Action. But just in general when you were young at PV the fabled teen room was a big deal. I used to lock up the building with my dad and we would always go in there and play pool on their pool table. And the destructiveness of little kids like me is why they relocated the room and locked it (also we got a bunch more kids I think). But being in the youth group was a big deal and so I actually didn't like going to church before the youth group but I did go on the 6 Flags Trip and I roomed with Steven and Brandon. I loved talking to him and we all logged several hours watching The Cosby Show till like 1 in the morning.
So when it came time to get into the youth group he was basically why I went, it was a big deal and I was excited and most of my friends know this story. My first day, I think on the urge of Steven, I sat on the front row with the seniors. Well I was sitting next to Michael Capps and little did I know of how that class of seniors worked at that time. And so when he messed with me I was scared and I went home and cried because I thought the seniors hated me. Later I loved Capps and that whole class with a passion. Anyway, I kept coming because of Steven I didn't even necessarily have a group of friends because as I said before I didn't like church when I was younger and these guys basically saw each other every day because of CAC.
First trip with the youth group was Winterfest 08 and I didn't room with Steven but MG (Don Goodlow) who is also an awesome guy. But I remember talking to Steven a lot that trip and going to his room to watch LOST on his laptop with a bunch of people. My first real religious experience I think was in his hotel room when we had our youth group devos in there each night and I sat with Emma Rogers who in case you never figured out is an amazing singer. So when I got back Steven baptized me and I wouldn't have ever let anyone else do it.
I think it was around then that I decided I wanted to do for kids what he had done for me and be a youth minister. Especially since I think its just about the most fun job ever (if you do it the way our church does).
First Uplift I actually roomed with Ryan Smith to try and get to know the other youth minister really well but I remember playing Ultimate with Steven every day and his general craziness.
But Steven and I continued to hang out and he would come to my school to have lunch with me, and I ended up job shadowing him in 8th grade. Stuff like that where we really talked about stuff and he taught me so much and just inspired me more to be a youth minister. He is my "mentor" if I can say that and I definitely would have never really come to Christ or wanted to be a minister without him. He is my main role model over even John Riley which might come as a shock to you and I love him.
A few random memories
The first time he told me the three wells joke and I laughed like crazy
Me always asking why he called us here when he rhetorically asked
Me being an awful bed buddy with him in Birmingham where we eventually slept with a pillow barrier
And just anything else I mentioned a bunch up there and I'm tearing up way to much to type now but he did shape who I am today and I'll miss him
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