They Call It 'Gospel Road'

You know the drill on this one. Between 4 PM and bed I've got nuthin' to do so my wife signed me up to drive kids 'somewhere' for a program called Gospel Road. I'm still not an expert on what happens but the premise is this. Two hundred-fifty, mostly about to be high school sophomore and junior boys and girls, come together for one week in the summer. It's a lot more than praying.These kids give up a week to help those in need. It's my understanding they go out into the poorer sections of town, repairing and painting homes, and they do it willingly and gladly. They utter the phrase so often heard when asked about how their day was in 90 degree heat, "It was awesome".
Yesterday, I drove four young women and a lad to the Columbus Zoo water park. It was their reward after a long day of working in the blazing July heat. I miss being around young kids. I should consider getting back into education as a sub. Youngsters of the mid-teen variety make me feel so young, again. When I taught, the most enjoyable ones were from mid-semester sophomores to mid-semester juniors. Their mental and physical maturity levels were taking off. They were able to be a little 'vanilla' in their thoughts and actions. They were young enough to be giddy but old enough to undestand that having the car keys in hand was a serious responsibility. Four girls and a guy. You would not confuse these young girls for the 'Housewives of New York'; no self-centeredness here. The young man, Michael, he's going to be successful professionally someday. How many of our youth ask for the cell number of an adult in the event there is miscommunition? Michael had a leg up, though. He's attending the same Catholic High School my son did. You gotta understand, though, I'm writing about the kids who come from homes where expectations for kids are high, where the first words out of their mouths aren't "shut the F up". I'm writing about kids who aren't afraid to say "thank you'". I'm writing about homes where the kids tell their parents, "I love you" for no reason in particular.
MJ took them to the Dairy Queen and treated. They deserved it. I was in awe of them. They must have said 'thank you' six times. In my world one would suffice.
I picked up my group at around 8 pm and drove them back to Watterson High School. They don't know this until now but I'll miss them. I'll miss their enthusiasm, their generosity, politeness, innocence and all the rest that goes with growing up.
Thank God, after all the negatives I've written lately it makes me feel good to write about the best part of this country; the future.
For the most part, America is in good hands.