Friday, August 19, 2011

"We planted years of tears
We can't believe the joy
You have been good to us"

I know you will find this hard to believe, but youth group workers always have a favorite. We do not mean to favor one youth over the others, but there is always that one or two students who you are drawn to. There is something about that student that you see so much potential in and you want more than anything to see them succeed. Do not get me wrong, I loved and still love every young person that we had the honor to invest our lives into, but there is one young man that I was the closest to. So, now begins my first of a long line of goodbyes. Kollin came into our youth group in 6 grade. Jeremy had taken over the Jr. High class at church. The moment I met him I knew that he was going to be one of my "favorites". He was a leader and full of life despite circumstances in his own life that would make most kids bitter and angry at the world. We would do mission trips and outings and we would divide up in random groups and Kollin always ended up in my group. Over the years we had many opportunities to becomes great friends. A few years back Kollin decided church was not a place he wanted to be and we began to see him less and less. The once greatest leader of the youth group no longer wanted to lead. This troubled me beyond words. Those of you who know me well know that I am NOT a confronter. I try to keep the peace at any cost. Now  I do not candy coat sin and doing wrong but I go about confronting in a peaceful way. I knew that this was a time I had to confront head on. I sent him a note on Facebook but then decided I needed to call him instead of doing it the wimpy way. Well, lets just say it did not go well. He was soo mad at me and I was certain our friendship would never be repaired. A few weeks went by and Kollin started coming back to youth group. The first time he came back he gave me a simple "Hey" and I knew he would forgive me. Kollin jumped back into the youth group and became the leader once again. When Jeremy and I left our church Kollin was going to be a senior. It was hard leaving knowing he had one more year of school left, but he reminded me "You will see me EVERY day at school." He went to the school I was teaching at and he was right I saw him almost every day. I could hug his neck and make sure he was doing alright. Well, upon graduation Kollin made plans to join the Air Force. He is leaving Tuesday. It hit me yesterday that when he returns from all his training we will no longer be living here and it hurt. He came over for supper last night to visit with us and to say goodbye. Will we see him again? Yes, but it will be different. I found a quote the other day that said, "How blessed I am to have known someone who was so hard to say goodbye to." We are blessed to know this young man and we are proud and excited to see what God has in store for him.