What a difference a year makes...

I spent the past week with 25 seventh graders in Kentucky serving on a mission trip. It was a really good trip and a privilege to be a part of. This was the first year we took an all 7th grade trip and I made some observations. First of all, I realized why we don't take 6th graders on these trips. Secondly, there is a big difference between a 7th and an 8th grader. They did a great job, but I definitely could tell the difference between this trip and past trips with 8th graders. Even when we had 7th graders with 8th graders, it seemed that the 8th graders brought the level of maturity up quite a bit. Now, by no means am I saying that 8th graders are really mature and 7th graders aren't. However, the difference in maturity level was noticeable. Just another reason why this age group is so unique and why I enjoy ministering to them. They are changing every second it seems. It always seems like they teach me just as much or more than I team them. All in all, there was a lot of life change on this trip. My prayer is that it would stick. Also, my prayer is that these same students would come back next year because I can't wait to see what kind of difference a year makes!