When I was in junior high I was a lonely kid. I lived in a small town and my family went to church 20 minutes away from our house. Needless to say I didn’t see my church friends much outside of Sundays and Wednesdays. And in JH I wasn’t the most popular kid at school. I didn’t have a waiting list of friends who wanted to hang out with me. So I was lonely a lot.
But there were a few friends that I would hang out with each weekday. I would hang out with Doug at 6 pm for an hour, then an hour with Kevin at 9 pm, and Alex at 10 pm for about 30 minutes.
I identified a lot with Doug because he was a portly little loser who had a crush on a Patti Mayonnaise, and could just never get up the guts to tell her he liked her. I was the same way. I had a huge crush on a girl named Bridget for over 2 years. But I could just never get up the guts to tell her that I liked her. Doug was a good friend to me even though we never said a word to each other.
Kevin had a little more success with the ladies but he had a dorky friend named Paul. 
I kind of had a heart for dorky kids at school too I feel like. I knew it wasn’t right to make fun of others, and even though I did at times, I always regretted it. I tried hard to be nice to those who might have fallen into the dorky category. Plus, Kevin gave me hope that one day I might find a girl who was willing to hold my hand, kiss me, and call herself my girlfriend.
Lastly, was Alex. He worked for a Taxi company in New York City and had a kind of rough life and not so glamorous life. 
But he had community. And that was something I had, but only for a few hours a week while at church. He had it all the time with the people he worked with. I wanted it. And it was something that I finally found more of later in high school, college and on.
These 3 guys were my closest friends in junior high, and I thank God for them…honestly.
mission.midtown.life. 