As the school year ends and summer begins, both Steven and I are keeping our student small groups going over the summer. Both groups have changed our format a bit and we are keeping it lighter, and also mixing in some fun nights and bonding time as well as lesson time.
I have a particular interest in keeping my group bonded close together since they are now graduated high school seniors and about to go off to
different colleges, although most of them are staying local, they won’t be going to school together. I want to make sure this group continues on as a young adult small group.
This week we are having a fun night, just a time to go out as a group and have fun and do some bonding time together. I have to admit though I’m actually accomplishing two things here and I think both of these are equally as important.
One, my student group is doing something together. Something fun and active for a couple of hours and then we’ll go and have dinner together. The second thing I’m doing is for me. Yep, this one is for me. In order to do what I have planned for this week I need to take a day off of work, which after reading Doug Field’s book, “What Matters Most” it dawns on me that I need to do this more often. I’m really trying to learn to say no to the good stuff so I can save my time for the great stuff, the stuff that really matters.
Take some time this summer with your student small group and just have fun. Do stuff you might never do, something that your students will look back on and remember the rest of their lives. Create some memories with them. Let them remember small group time as a time when they grew closer to God and closer to their group and established some life-long friendships and accountability partners. Let it be a time when they remember a leader who led them in Bible study and also wasn’t afraid to get smacked in the head with a dodge ball.
