So as I’m reflecting back from our youth convention this weekend, I can’t help but recall how many times I saw a joven that was probably too old for jovenes. You know….those awkward guys and girls that still don’t get the picture that they are past the age of youth.
One thing that Cristianos like to do is stay young. So young that you’re not considered an hermano or hermana unless you’re married. We basically have three age brackets that people belong to: the niños, the jovenes, and the hermanos. We have no in-between periods, because for us, it is socially acceptable for a 34 year old single dude to be part of the same youth group as a 12 year old girl. The general rule is: if you’re married, you get sent to the hermanos. If you’re not, you can stay with the youth as long as possible. You can be pushing 40 years old, and as long as you’re not married, you can fit right in with the jovenes. In fact, we’ll even let you drive the van each time we go out!
My favorite part about these people is when they complain about the fact that youth events are not geared to them anymore. It makes me want to chuckle on the inside. You know, the kind of chuckle you get when people don’t realize their zipper is down. It makes me chuckle even more when people invite me to a youth service and all I find is older people. They are oblivious to the idea of youth ministry.
Maybe one day, Cristianos will create a new age bracket called Young Adults. I don’t know if it’ll work, but let’s try it out and see what happens.
This is some good stuff you got going on here. It even made me chuckle a little! But so true about old jovenes at youth conventions. I even at my age feel too old, ha! Good job on this website and keep up the AWESOME work. God bless
Yes, life issues are totally different for a 12-year-old navigating puberty and jr. high cliques than for a 30-year-old with a job, house, and car payment.