We have a lot of unofficial mottos around the Justin Building, but none so commonly used and perhaps as appropriate as “Well, this might as well happen.”
It’s no secret that a lot of Youth Ministry in general is planning an event carefully and then throwing away the script when the day comes. In fact, last November we had to completely pivot from our traditional High School Retreat out at Lyle Lodge (shout out chronic water issues!) to an overnight in the Justin; it became affectionately titled “Accidental Lock-in” instead. The kids still had a blast and it quickly became one of my favorite events of this school year. That motto is not, however, limited to moments of problem solving.
If there’s one thing that we in the Justin are proud of, it’s the all-encompassing sense of community that is interwoven through everyone that steps through its doors. It’s intrinsic to the group at this point, a certain magic that I first experienced in 2012 and has never shown any signs of weakening, even through staff changes and pandemics. This community brings out the best in people and, in the months I’ve been back here, I have seen our kids embrace it in ways that have grown them exponentially. They are kind, generous people, who show love in all sorts of ways, each more radiant than the last. They are still, however, teenagers, and if there’s something else that community is good at bringing out in people, it’s mayhem!
Our most recent event, High School Hangout, was held in March out at Lyle Lodge. It was planned to be a daytime event, nothing intense; just an excuse for kids to get out of the house and see their friends. The weather was beautiful and we had a solid group of our most frequent fliers. A lengthy game of frisbee led to dipping feet into the still-frigid pool, where a volleyball was hit around for a while as others sat and talked. It was a very normal event, demonstrative of a very standard bond of community. As burgers started flipping, dinner conversation flowed. I got into a debate about the Mona Lisa with a sophomore boy. It was all very standard. And then, the other side of that community and that motto started creeping in – chaos!
It began with one of our sophomore girls proudly claiming that she liked mayonnaise so much, she could drink it. If you’ve spent any time around teenagers at all, you know that’s a dangerous stance to take in a group that is currently in possession of a squeeze bottle of mayonnaise. There’s another important part of our community that deserves mention here: no one walks alone. Which is how, moments later, she and two of her best friends ended up with bottles of mayonnaise, mustard, and ketchup, respectively, in their hands, squeezing them directly into their mouths; it went about as well as you’d expect. Ketchup got spat in hair. Emotions I’ve never seen passed over our poor high school intern’s face. Not to be outdone, one of our senior boys drank all three condiments at once.
Accepting the mayhem that comes with teenagers and realizing that it’s part of how they show their love for a place are sometimes not easy to do. Though loud, often disruptive, and sometimes gross to watch, they don’t show their true selves just anywhere. At school, at home, on sports teams, they have to be versions of themselves that others expect (and sometimes demand). Here, though, they can make messes. They can be loud. They can be exactly who they are called to be. And those of us who are fortunate enough to witness these moments just say “Well, this might as well happen!”
Claire Manno
Youth Ministries Program Staff
