The One with the Student

I've mentioned it several times on here that every Sunday I lead a service for our middle school students. We've been promoting this service during our Wednesday night service in hopes that we can get a few of them to show up for the opportunity to dig deeper into The Word. Last week as I was finishing setting up a student showed up that I hadn't seen before. I sat around talking with him for a little bit, but it felt more like awkward silences than meaningful conversation.
During the lesson I noticed that he didn't interact much with the other students in the group and it appeared as if he didn't care too much to be there. After the service I talked to him and let him know I was glad he was there and that I hoped to see him again. It always seems you can get a good idea as to whether a student is going to return or not and the feeling that I got was that he wasn't coming back anytime soon. It made me sad that a student could come into our group and not make a connection with me or with the students in our group.
A few days after the service I ran into this student's mom as I was going about my day. I talked to her about how I was glad he was there and she was like "He had such a great time and said he thought you were really cool." I responded with words that probably sounded more like sounds of confusion and an "uhhhh what?" I talked to her about him a little and how he seemed to not enjoy himself or make a connection with me, but he did.
I was sharing this with Brooklyn and about how it is so easy to not understand the impact we have on a student. I felt like this service was the last place this student wanted to be, but apparently he had a great time and learned a lot.
It just goes to show that we can't ever give up on anyone. You may feel like you haven't made any progress in ministering to them or building a relationship, but in reality you may be progressing without even knowing it.