i have lots of reasons to smile. or actually, i have lots of people that make me smile. :]

last night around 8:30 our doorbell rang. this is unusual because we don't have many guests and we don't have many guests in the evening. as i approached the door i saw a few teenagers and heard some voices. i nearly jumped backwards as i opened the door to see at least twenty teenagers standing on our porch. the girls that surrounded the door all shreiked and dove for me engulfing me in a sea of bone crushing hugs. one was holding a vase of flowers but everyone was so caught up in the suprise of seeing me that they must have forgotten to tell me why in the world they were there. finally they asked if amy, my roomate was home. "no" i replied and they continued, "okay. well we [liberty youth group + a few] are going around encouraging all the youth pastors today!" they handed me the flowers and a few cards for amy. and then they added, "and since you're pretty much a youth pastor too..." they plucked a flower from amy's bouquet and put it in my hair. then all the teens that knew me gave me more hugs and off they went. not only did seeing them unexpectedly at my door bless my heart but also because i knew how much my roomate was needing encouragement. and in the form it came, wow. we serve a seriously awesome God.

i'm also smiling tonight. amy and i decided to hit up the free locals show of The Lost Colony in Manteo. to our surprise our seats were right infront of aaron and sierra (two awesome local teens) and then during the intermission we quickly stumbled upon maria (another insanely awesome teen) and she took the empty seat infront of us. :]