"Woah, so all these people love Jesus?"

Tonight I got to do something I wish I could have done sooner. I was in Bloomington with Justin, hosting a dinner for the new tenants in his house down there, and realized that I could see some of my YL girls who just started their freshmen year.

I've know Olivia, Hannah and Anne since they were 7th graders in my class. I watched them play volleyball for more games than I can count. We went to a total of five different Young Life camps together. We spent an insane amounts of hours sitting together in Campaigners circles, beside each other at Club, across dinner tables and around cups of coffee. I love these girls and have seen them go deep in their faith and make it their own. 

The hope of Young Life is not that our kids will keep doing Young Life forever, the hope is that they will continue to follow Christ. We're intentional about having conversations, especially their Senior year, about how to stay plugged in to ministry and keep being fed spiritually in each season of life. Once these kids have left for school I check in on them and am eager to hear what church or small group or ministry they're finding.

But tonight was different. Tonight I got to walk up the front steps of CSF (Christian Student Fellowship) at IU with Kegley. We met Abigail, a smiling, welcoming sophomore who was making name tags, and immediately felt like this was the right place to be. I stood next to Anne as we sang "Oh How He Loves Us," and knew that even though we were in a new place, that God's love was still the same. 

Right now, I wish that I could drive to Ball State and go with Kaylee to a new church on Sunday. I wish I could be there with Julia as she checks out Bama Young Life for the first time. I wish I could give Erin and Genna a ride to Campus House this week. But I know that I can still encourage them to do those things from afar. 

I don't know if these girls will keep going back to CSF. Because after all, it's not about CSF. But if this is the place that will point them to Christ for the next four years and give them a community to love then I'm so excited for them. 

Morgan, a brilliant 7th grader with the best heart, told us something so wise at Campaginers on Wednesday. She said, "Outlets in the wall always have power, but unless you plug your phone in, it won't get charged. Jesus is like the outlet-- he is always powerful. But unless we plug ourselves into Him we won't get that power and he can't be at work in us." 

I'm so thankful for how God has already been at work in Olivia, Hannah and Anne's lives. I'm so excited for how he is already preparing a way for them to dive deeper in college.