7:11

Twice a year the middle school youth group puts on fun nights, where the goal is more or less to make sure that leaders are outnumbered by at least a dozen to one, station said leaders at various activities, and then release two hundred odd middle schoolers (plus one of my fifth graders) to run through the church building for four hours, with a little bit of caution tape to let them know where they shouldn't be going.

Definitely sounds like the sort of plan that I would have come up with!

Because of my lack of either a cloning machine or a time turner, I rarely get to hang out with these kids, so love it when they do things like this that occur on not-Sundays. I love getting to connect with them, even if just for a few minutes while they shoot nerf darts at each other, box in an inflatable bounce house, sumo wrestle, shoot potato guns, or slip over to show me their pockets full of candy. I love seeing plenty of faces that I know and quite a few that I don't know. I love the sixth graders who are trying hard to be too cool to need me around anymore but still check over their shoulder constantly to make sure that, whatever that cool thing was that they just did, I saw and approve of. I love the seventh graders who decide that the balance between grown up and childlike is absolutely, over the top hyper that runs its mouth a mile a minute. I love the eighth graders who see the world with that clarity that comes from having one foot in one and stage and one foot in the other. I love that, even though they don't have to, they're still willing to let older people help define their world. I love that they're becoming almost as fast as they are being, and I love that they know it. Middle school is just a fun age.

Although, one of the boys came up to say hi and leaned his elbow on my shoulder. Yeah. I definitely did not give permission for him to be this tall yet. Way to make me feel old, kid. I already felt old enough when your brother graduated from high school, thankyouverymuch. No need to rub it in.