7 Things: Wesley Memorial Edition

Though it did not end well,  the time I served Wesley Memorial UMC in Tampa (October 2001 - June 2005) is very special to me.  Lots of amazing students, parents, events and moments stand out in my mind, but today I want to remember 7 Things that will always be special to me about those years.  Not included but ALWAYS remembered are the 2 Lost And Found concerts, the trips, the dozens of lunches at Lee Garden Chinese Restaurant and the many dinners at Kado Japanese Steakhouse.  They were all magical.  Here we go:

1. My interview for the job, when student Kyle Bell asked me, "How do you feel about dating?" - and I answered, "I don't know, we just met..."  It turned out the previous YP thought dating was evil, and Kyle was just making sure of my position!
2. The Sunday afternoon in 2005 we took a group out to a local beach and filmed our very own music video for the Ian Eskelin song Save the Humans. We had a great time, got lots of odd looks from other beach-goers, and eventually Pat O'Brien made a very cool video out of the footage.  Like so many other things I have, it is still on VHS.  Maybe someday I'll get it transfered into a digital format...
3. A Youth Ministry Team Christmas party at Bahama Breeze, an incredibly popular restaurant in Tampa.  We somehow managed to squeeze 20 of us around a table for 12 as all kinds of people we didn't think could make it showed up- and we had an amazing meal anyway.  It was always very important to me to take care of my volunteers.
4. Walking to the Virgin Megastore in Times Square on our 2005 NYC trip with Nina Mock, Justin Overstreet and others at 2 AM.  It was just one of those great moments of indescribable fellowship that I will always treasure. Sticking Virgin price tags to Nina (Virgin SALE: $9.99!) was just the icing on the cake!
5. Leading a prayer service for Robin Smith, one of our volunteers, as she prepared to go in for a last gasp artificial insemination for she and her husband Ed.  The pastor couldn't be there, so I led her co-workers from the church's preschool in a laying on of hands.  It was a powerful prayer time, and her beautiful twin girls are a testimony to God's faithfulness.
6. The night I drove Jacquie Thomson home from a youth event and she began to cry as she told me how fat she felt.  Jacquie was one of the smartest, talented and most beautiful young women it was ever my pleasure to have in a youth group, and to hear her in such pain over the ridiculous expectations of others just tore me up.  We talked a lot that night, and later on she remained a faithful part of our ministry long after most of her friends had moved on.
7. The final week.  I especially remember the great day we had at DisneyQuest before breaking down on the way home and having one of the students- Ryan Dittmar - save the day!  I remember the moment I realized that one of our newer Youth Ministry Team members, Lisa Jewett, was going to be the person to lead the group forward while they searched for a new YP- and I was so right.  She would also become one of my closest friends.  And I remember loosing Kevin Cook.  We had one final Rec Around the Clock, and an hour after everyone went home and I locked up the church, Kevin was reported missing.  After a quick search, we found him asleep on the front pew in the sanctuary.  Ahhhh...youth ministry!!!

So many memories, so many blessings.  I'll wrap up the tales of my years at WMUMC on Friday with a look back at how it all ended.  Until then...

Because of Jesus,