Lent 16

Well, it's 9:30 on Saturday night and I'm getting ready for bed. Sounds pathetic, but I promise you, it is not. I have been with my youth group at the Disciple Now event in Greenwood. Our Methodist Church got together with two Presbyterian churches and three Baptist churches for an event with around 200 kids. We had worship and a guest speaker followed by Bible study last night before getting them to bed around 1 am. This morning, more Bible study, a couple hours of service in the community, more Bible study, free time and worship with guest speaker again. This weekend has been full of activity, great things, and all the middle school girl drama you could possibly cram into two days.

Despite my fairly serious problems with some things the guest speaker said (and let's face it, I'm ridiculously critical, a fact that drives even me crazy) I absolutely loved watching those kids gather around the stage and sing and shout to the music, to put their arms around each other, to reach out in service in various ways throughout the weekend. A lot of the kids were just having a good time, but I could tell a few of them were genuinely learning with a strong desire to be right where they were.

The owner of the girls' host home has a habit of making all children who come into her home memorize 1 Timothy 4:12. "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." It was an appropriate frame for the weekend with our kids. No deep reflection here, tonight. Only want to say, I am exhausted, but it was a pretty good weekend with the younger members of the body of Christ (despite the drama). I want to celebrate God's ever-moving presence.