Uplift - Day 2 (Part 1)

It's 4:30 and the kids are done with rec time. Now they're in their dorms getting ready to meet for dinner in an hour. Taylor Flowers joined us today without incident. Mad props to Kim and Melanie for picking him up at the airport today. I just finished watching some of our kids play volleyball and pretty much run the show, which makes my head swell a little, being their youth minister and all.

Before I go any further, let me just say that this is already shaping up to be a life-changing week. Everyone who is here is supposed to be here. I'm firmly convinced that this group is transforming right before our eyes into what God wants his people to be. And our chaperons on this trip, while few, are exactly where God needs them to be. I don't know how we could make this week work without Kim, Melanie, Audrey, Luke and Ashley. Tomorrow will be great, because Matt and I will actually get to spend time with our kids after Zoo. We are only teaching two days this year. So we don't teach again until Wednesday. That's going to be amazing. I've never gotten to go to classes and spend time with my youth group, because I've always had to do board stuff or teach or something. This is going to be cool.

Now, let's see . . . where was I? Oh yes, the morning didn't start off so well. The A/V for our videos did not go very well this morning. Nothing went very well this morning. And we've kind of got three more days of videos we have planned, so I hope they get this corrected quickly. Either way, we'll make it work. We had several kids today ask us not to quit doing Zoo. I don't know how to answer these things. I am such a pushover. Our kids were very supportive of our morning and encouraged us. Then we had some of them in class first thing, and that's always fun to get to teach your kids in a different environment. Another of my great joys is getting to come here with our kids and seeing what kind of leaders they are. There are a lot of great youth groups here, but I would put our kids right up there with anyone. They really lead by example. It's a nice thing for Bammel to have the reputation it does. I'm proud of our kids. You should be too.

We had classes all day. Groups took Communion together. It was cool the way they did it, a little bit differently than in the past. Tonight, we are having an illusionist come for our nightly entertainment. I love magicians. Love magicians. Yes, I know it's slight of hand and there is no such thing as "magic." And no, I do not want to know how you did that. I am super pumped about this. I heard he's really good. I am going to get all hyphy and stuff. That's slang for crunk, which is slang for jazzed, which is slang for pumped. And I'm sure that's slang for something. Why can't I think of a word for how excited I am? Oh . . . excited . . . that's a good word.

We also have our first group devo tonight. Looking forward to that. Just worshiping with our kids and hearing about their day. It's going to be a good time of reflection. We have a lot of kids here who haven't been before, and that's exciting. I'm looking forward to hearing about how the day was for them and what they gathered from our classes and such. Always fun. Wish you guys who aren't here could be a fly on the wall this evening. Please keep praying that God is moving in us this week. Please pray for continued safety for everyone here. And let me know if you have any questions or need anything.