I was Smalls, but a wallflower with both of my siblings until senior year when I went on a week-long service trip an hour away in inner city Omaha and made temporary friendships with half the youth group worship team (they stopped talking to me as soon as I went to college).
I never went to youth group as a teen (my family was part of an ultra-legalistic homeschool group who thought youth group was Of The Devil…even though they totally held once-a-month teen only gatherings that were mostly games with a bit of worship time at the end, but those totally weren’t youth group /s) but as far as I’m aware you nailed these archetypes
ah. i was frequently pulled out of youth group because it was "too worldly," and instead shooed towards the homeschool co-op classes that taught Understanding the Times as an end-times text. anyway, not a lot going on in the babe department during those years
My first quasi-girlfriend was a girl I met at Summit Ministries the summer before my senior year of high school. We broke up because of a misunderstanding about the Green Day "Time Of Your Life" song.
regret of summit/understanding the times? not really, i guess. it was a bit overly serious for teens, and sort of fostered the "it's up to you to save the world" hero narrative that a lot of homeschool families of that time bought into. but i wouldn't say it was harmful or anything. teenage me got to sit next to girls, so that was cool, lol
I never really went to youth group, but this maps PERFECTLY to dudes in the 31-person class at my roughly 125-person private Christian school. Seriously, specific names and faces were appearing before me. Reading this was a real Milestone for me, a Wake-Up Call for sure
Flashback to Jensen Ackles' one and only appearance on Wishbone, unlocked. Wow, this is so good! I am loving the combo of humor and heart on this one. And dead-on profiling. Rich stuff.
"There are different kinds of pastor’s kids, and Squints is definitely the Absalom strain: charismatic, but lacking guardrails. "
I think this line made my day 🤣
I’m inspired
Oh and it's worth noting that there is a Smalls to Benny pipeline that is underappreciated in youth group lore.
Bless Ham.
(I am Ham.)
Me too!
I was Smalls, but a wallflower with both of my siblings until senior year when I went on a week-long service trip an hour away in inner city Omaha and made temporary friendships with half the youth group worship team (they stopped talking to me as soon as I went to college).
i feel like “inner city omaha” would be a good intramural flag football team name
I never went to youth group as a teen (my family was part of an ultra-legalistic homeschool group who thought youth group was Of The Devil…even though they totally held once-a-month teen only gatherings that were mostly games with a bit of worship time at the end, but those totally weren’t youth group /s) but as far as I’m aware you nailed these archetypes
ah. i was frequently pulled out of youth group because it was "too worldly," and instead shooed towards the homeschool co-op classes that taught Understanding the Times as an end-times text. anyway, not a lot going on in the babe department during those years
My first quasi-girlfriend was a girl I met at Summit Ministries the summer before my senior year of high school. We broke up because of a misunderstanding about the Green Day "Time Of Your Life" song.
we talking bryan college summit ministries? understanding the times worldview classes?
i feel a homeschool crew tweet marinating
The Colorado mothership with Dr. Noebel himself!
ah. well, they send the undesirables down to tennessee to wander around on the mountain with noebel's acolytes
It’s like The Hunger Games but with people who will one day either deconstruct or work for the Heritage Foundation.
As a mom, of young children who we want to homeschool...
I just heard of Summit...
Regret? I know it's like 10+ years away... but.... I'd like to know your thoughts!
Reply, or DM me.
regret of summit/understanding the times? not really, i guess. it was a bit overly serious for teens, and sort of fostered the "it's up to you to save the world" hero narrative that a lot of homeschool families of that time bought into. but i wouldn't say it was harmful or anything. teenage me got to sit next to girls, so that was cool, lol
Got to sit next to girls... 😂 you need to put a bible in between you to make sure you're properly distanced, tho?!
Thank you for your reply!
caveat here of it's been a long time, and i don't know the people who run it now, or what it's like
I never really went to youth group, but this maps PERFECTLY to dudes in the 31-person class at my roughly 125-person private Christian school. Seriously, specific names and faces were appearing before me. Reading this was a real Milestone for me, a Wake-Up Call for sure
This is spot on!!
this is so gloriously not on-brand for you (aside from the format); it's apocalyptic in an almost tender sort of way.
thank you for sharing.
have to keep my enemies guessing
Flashback to Jensen Ackles' one and only appearance on Wishbone, unlocked. Wow, this is so good! I am loving the combo of humor and heart on this one. And dead-on profiling. Rich stuff.
thank you stephanie. if not for the jensen ackles types*, i would have gotten so many dates with babes during youth group
*also: stifling purity culture legalism, lack of physical attractiveness, and crippling geek vibes, but whatever
I take that flack entirely personally as both an unrecovered JA stan and fellow late bloomer in allllll those ways :P