Moving on for real

The school year in terms of youth group is over.
The class of 2011 is about 25% of the group, including the entire band and most of the most-involved people. These are some of the awesomest people I've ever known, with some of the most real, loving and sincere Christians I have ever known. Also, some of our youth leaders who have been heavily involved for a long time are also retiring (including our British rocket scientist, who my older brother pelted with questions about anything Star Trek, and my wonderful Compass mentor, who will be leaving with her husband in October). Finally, our crazy awesome youth pastor, who has been with the group exactly as long as I have, is leaving to be a senior pastor in another part of the country.
This past weekend was our last youth retreat of the year (hopefully we shall continue having them despite the fact there's going to be someone new in charge next year) and the last time that the group included those many, many people who are departing this summer. Friday night the seniors put their handprints on the Youth Room wall, immortalized in paint with the graduates of the past (sounds so dramatic, doesn't it?). We hung out and skipped rocks and waded at the beach, played nighttime Frisbee with a glow-in-the-dark disk, and sang and discussed testimonies in the group meetings. We made s'mores around a campfire, buried one of the middle-school guys in the sand up to his neck, told jokes (like the monk joke) and riddles, and some people had a mud war (started by one of the leaders, naturally). (And one of the guys had one of his flip-flops stolen by a fox.)
For me, though, it was also a reminder of one of the things that's going to be happening next year. Over the weekend, I had the opportunities to thank friends and leaders for who they have been and what they have done in the group, share with the group a song I had written for the people who are leaving (with two wonderful friends of mine singing with me because I can't sing - they totally saved me on that one), share my testimony also with the big group, etc. I also found myself as the listening ear, offering hugs, advice and love to a friend of mine. When someone I had never really talked to called me by name, it was just kind of an eye-opener in that I realized this.
I'm entering senior year. I remember from being a middle-schooler and a freshman that everyone knew those seniors (and most of the juniors) that actively participated. Those were the older kids, the leaders, and everyone kind of took for granted. And now there are about six of us tops in the class of 2012. And it's our turn to be leaders there. I heard things over the weekend that made me realize there are a bunch of people who are already seeing us as leaders (it's an upperclassmen thing). I guess it's really time to just, you know, do that thing.