This past week I have been a pastor/mother on the road. Instead of preaching at my own church, I have spent the last four days with 650 middle schoolers at Montreat Middle School Conference. It was a wonderful experience working with the leadership team and planning team.

Although my kids are still young, these middle schoolers were a riot to be around – so much energy, so much curiosity, and so much angst. It makes me look forward to when my kids are that age – this brief window where they are still children and trying to grow up. And while it was a joy to care for and nurture middle schoolers for a few days, I am ready to embrace my own kids tonight when I get home

The theme of the conference was “Rooted in Love.” A lot of what I preached on was about our identity as children of God and how God created us special.

Here is one of the videos that I had made and used in my sermon. Jamie Thompson wrote the theme song.

Here is a video that recaps the whole conference: