You reserved your Sundays for church and you always had on your Sunday best. But we all know that there was more to church than just sitting in Sunday School and learning about heroic Bible characters. If you can relate to any of these things, you were a hardcore church kid.
1. You knew all the ice-breaker group games and you rolled your eyes every time you played "Never Have I Ever."
You played almost every ice-breaker game invented under the sun and knew the rules by heart. Whenever people were bored, you always had a go-to game to liven things up.
2. "How Great is Our God" by Chris Tomlin was your jam.
You and your friends knew this song so well that all you needed was a guitar and your voices and somehow your impromptu worship session would sound exactly like the studio version, harmonies and everything.
3. You knew the songs "Lord I Lift Your Name on High" and "Awesome God" by heart and you knew the hand motions to those songs.
You can't recall the very first time you learned this song or the hand motions. It's an instinct. You can't sing these songs without doing the hand motions. It's impossible.
4. You thought the dance moves to "Pharaoh Pharaoh" were cool.
You side-stepped and clapped to the verses you never knew, but when the chorus came on you broke out the edgy dance moves and showed off your skills.
5. Going to VBS was the highlight of your summer.
Bible stories, skits, games and crafts, Monday through Friday, for one whole week. You always loved seeing your church friends every day during this week and made awesome memories together.
6. You admired the worship team and wished you could play piano or guitar as well as them.
They made you regret quitting those piano lessons you hated so much as a kid and they made you wish you were a better singer.
7. You had an Adventure Bible or Teen Study Bible.
All the cool kids had an Adventure Bible and if you didn't have one, you wish you did. No matter how much you begged your parents to buy an Adventure Bible, they made you use the boring moleskin Bible with no pictures.
8. While people were partying on Friday nights, you were studying the Bible at Youth Group.
God, music, friends and food all in one night?? Who would turn that down?
9. You've been on a retreat.
You bonded with people you never knew you could connect with and you have never stayed up so late sharing your struggles with others. Despite the lack of sleep and phone service, every moment was worth it and you dreaded leaving.
10. You would pray to God that He would "cleanse the food so that it will nourish our bodies" before every meal... even if you were eating McDonald's.
Your prayer wouldn't be complete without a "bless the food" phrase no matter how gross the food was. You secretly hoped that God would somehow make those french fries have no effect on your body.
11. You avoided eye-contact when your Youth Group leader asks for a volunteer to pray.
Fact: praying out loud can sometimes make you nervous. Your heart beats faster, you stumble on your words and every sentence ends with "Lord, God." So whenever the Youth Pastor asks for a volunteer you quickly look down at your Bible acting like you're deep in the Word.
12. Awkward silences were a norm when it came to answering questions during Sunday School.
Everyone knew the answer but didn't want to look like a nerd for being right. So every time the Sunday School teacher asked a question, you'd pick your nails, go on your phone or look at your Bible to make it seem like you're busy.
13. You have stacks on stacks of activity coloring pages of Bible characters.
Whenever you cleaned your room, you always found two or three activity pages of Jesus you colored five years ago. Tbh, you used them once and never looked at them again.
14. Your answer to everything was "Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins."
Every Sunday School: "How do you know that Jesus loves us?" Because Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins. "Who died for us?" Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins.
15. You participated in the 30-Hour Famine.
You tried to raise funds not only to support those in third world countries, but to get that cool water bottle and t-shirt.
16. ... But you never lasted those 30 hours.
At the end of the famine, you acted like the thirty hours were nothing to you. But you secretly ate a few Oreos at night to fight the hunger. Hey, we've all done it.
17. The guests at all your potluck parties consisted of people from church.
It was a given that at every gathering your family held, there was least one family from your church. Your mom always knew to invite that one mom who made the best food.
18. W.W.J.D. was your life motto.
Should you eat that cookie that your parents told you not to eat? Ask yourself, "What would Jesus do?" Should you do your homework tonight? Ask yourself, "What would Jesus do?"
19. You'd listen to ShineFM on your way to the grocery store.
You're kinda tired of hearing "Jesus Loves Me" by Chris Tomlin and "Oceans" by Hillsong, tbh.
20. You've made some lifelong friends at church.
You know you always have a group of friends you can fall back on when things get hard. There's just something different about these people that make you certain that you'll be friends forever.
All in all, you loved going to church and you loved being with the community of brothers and sisters that worshipped God together. Being a hardcore church kid is pretty cool and you don’t regret any moment of it.
