Eight Year Old Birthday Parties Rock!

I love what I do and I can't imagine doing anything else. I love middle school and high school students and their complete randomness of life and willingness to be open and honest about where they are at. I enjoy, truly enjoy being around middle and high school students.

After saying that, I got to say the craziest, most chaotic event that I have ever been a part of is the birthday party for Hannah, our 8 year old this past weekend. WOW! 10 8 year olds running and I mean running around the house, up the stairs, down the stairs, screaming, crying, laughing, constantly moving and making loud noises, all in the spirit of fun. That was true chaos. Give me 200 middle schoolers or 400 high schoolers over 10 8 year olds. Man was it crazy, but awesome in the same time. In those moments of chaos Kris and I got to connect with Hannah's friends in some really great ways. One girl is rude, kind of bossy, very crude, but she shared some time with Kris where she climbed up on her lap and watched the movie with her. That moment gave us insight into her life, that even in her rough outside exterior, she was a kid who just needed someone to care for her, to be held. Honestly, it broke our hearts and it breaks my heart to see kids old and young hurting, broken, bitter, and they have put up these huge fences around themselves.

Sometimes in the midst of chaos there are the important parts of life. Instead of adding to the chaos of life, I am looking for the important nuggets of time, of relationships, of what is really important. And sometimes the most important thing is doing something excellent, well, in an orderly way, but it is in a hug, an email, a conversation, a shared moment.