Just to hang out

He is 13, growing up far too fast and is becoming preoccupied with other things besides camp. He is really into basketball and it is not uncommon for him to ditch us “leaders” to go to practice. Now this is not all bad, it is a good discipline and training he is getting, but the down side of it is though that we miss him at camp. Since the beginning of Sept he has not come Friday nights due to practice but this past Friday He stopped by for the few hours before camp and before his basketball practice just to hang out.

We messed around in the gym for a bit, chatted and had some fun teasing him. We at one point duck taped him to a post in the office trying to find a way to make him stay for the night all in fun of course. We laughed a lot of it was good. When it was time for him to head to practice he came to find me and asked me if I would walk him to the bus stop. Now this may seem very insignificant but let me tell you why this meant too much to me. This young man has a fear, a fear of walking alone in the dark. He lives in a very rough neighborhood and it is probably a good fear to have. Last year every Friday night when it was time to go home he would change from being a tough kid who didn't need anything from anyone to being a little boy asking me to walk him home and so I did every Friday night, it became a routine and one that I treasured.

This year things have changed and he had not until this night asked me to walk him anywhere. It meant a lot as I walked him to the bus stop 20 meters from the church. It wasn't far, he could have done it but he preferred to have me walk him. When I first met this kid we did not get alone, in fact he really didn't like me but the beautiful thing is a year later he comes by just to see me and to hang out. He has this place where he knows he can come any time and will be valued and loved and no matter how old he is I will still walk him to the bus stop.