crazy beautiful life: A teenager stuck in a woman's body.

That's me. (Yes, Virginia, two posts in one week!).

Aside from the fact that I was a band geek/ 90's hair kind of girl in high school, I really enjoyed being a teenager. I mean, sure I had to deal with mean girls (but in a hillbilly high school, really they just fought over the one guy with all his teeth- or insert other redneck joke about everyone dating their cousin I guess..., but I digress) but overall my high school years are a blur.

I'm a responsible grown up now, with a mortgage, and three kids. Somehow though, that hasn't really affected my personality. I believe God not only called Baxter into youth ministry, but also me. I had no idea just how well I would fit in with teenagers until we actually started volunteering to hang out with them. How do I know that I'm really basically still a teenager? Here are some ways you can tell.

* I use pseudo words like "totes" (or totally for you old people out there), and "Fasho"(for sure, or fer shurre, dude for you guys stuck in the 90s). I hang out with teens so often that these words have slipped in to my everyday vocabulary.

* I can probably quote every line from Napoleon Dynamite or Nacho Libre ("Get that corn outta my face!!!"). Maybe that one comes from just watching those movies too many times, but I quote them with the teens, so I'm counting it.

* I actually count down to teen camp every year. We use that time as our vacation, people. We spend 5 days out in the wilderness of Oklahoma with our teens. There are no little drinks with umbrellas, no sandy beaches, just us, the teens and God (and some mosquitos). Besides being home or anywhere with my girls, it's the best time of the whole year.

* I have to stop myself from fist bumping adults that I have just met.

* You probably won't ever see me wear anything from Liz Claiborne or Banana Republic. I wear hoodies, t-shirts, jeans, etc. On second thought, maybe that just makes me sloppy? I get dressed up once a year when I force all the teen girls to wear dresses on Easter.

* I get more excited about games and pranks than most adults would admit. My husband has to turn on every light when he goes into a room in our house for fear that a crazed lunatic (me) will jump out and scare him. Seriously. I hide behind doors, couches, in the shower, one time, I even tried to get under the sink. It's a good time. You guys should try it. Nothing spices up a marriage more than a near heart attack.

Honestly, I'm not sure if any of those things really makes me a teenager. I do know, that if I couldn't serve in youth ministry, I don't know where I would fit in or serve. Most of the time, I feel like I can relate better to a struggling teenager than another adult. Thank God for youth ministry.