At certain moments in your life, you reach a point where you wonder how you got to be the person you are today. For some people it is their family or maybe a life experience. For me, I would not be the person I am today without my youth group.

Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights would not have been the same in high school if it wasn't for my youth group. There is no other group of people who are capable of loving you through Jesus, four square, and a whole lot of sarcasm.

Together we have gone on mission trips that have changed my perspective on the things I have in this world. To this very day, I long to go back to camp, because four years is not enough. We challenge each other to discover more about the Gospel as much as we challenge each other in any sort of game.

Worshipping a holy God alongside you all is an experience I will never forget. God is always on the move and working in our lives daily, but the way He works when we gathered together to praise Him and glorify Him is so powerful. As we have grown up together, we have watched God move in all of our lives. His presence is made known whenever we gather together.

The amount of thankfulness I have for my youth group is hard to put into words. Graduating high school was sad, but I was crushed to graduate from my youth group. But I am thankful that whenever I come home from college, they are still there to greet me with open arms. It is like returning to your second family.

I have been able to come back as a leader, and to get a different perspective of my forever growing youth group. I look at them and think to myself "they have no idea how much this group will mean to them." I am able to watch them grow in their faith and take on life's challenges with the help of God.

I can't help but smile when I think of the time spent with these people. I still laugh at our inside jokes and all the ridiculous stories we formed together. There is no other group of people who will laugh with you through the pain of getting a ball thrown at your face for the tenth time, and continue to tell the story years later.

I continuously remind myself that God is so good. When I think of my youth group, I am reminded of that. God is so good, because He gave me a community of believers. God is so good, because He taught me more about Him through my youth group. God is so good, because He gave me leadership opportunities through this group. God is so good, because He hand selected this group of people to build me as a believer years before I was born. God is so good, and I am so gratful.