"These are my people."

One of the things that makes Young Life unique is that it has always been focused on being a relational ministry. Because God chose to have a relationship with us, we choose to have a relationship with kids as we do life together, share the good news of Jesus and then continue to teach and learn together through discipleship. 

Our last WL night before Spring Break was a beautiful picture of relationships, togetherness and community. First I got to have Chik-Fil-A with Johnna, Mal and Maddie-- three of my favorite humans who continually fill my life with joy, unconditional love, laughter and fun.

Then we met WL leaders and kids at the Barn for a Pre-Spring Break Kinda-Club. Instead of a normal Campaigners night, we just hung out. There was basketball, soccer, volleyball, football, photo shoots, lax, creative gymnastics and a whole lot of laughing.

If we had a night like this at the start of the school year it would be too crazy, but at this point leaders and kids know one another, they're friends and they just want to spend time together. I loved watching our HS and adult leaders just do their thing as they played and laughed and talked and ran around with kids.

It is always our hope and prayer that Wyld Life is a place where kids will know they are loved, that they belong and that there is a God who loved them first and loves them best. This is a safe place for kids to just be themselves and grow in their faith as they ask questions and figure things out.

I'm so thankful that I get to be part of this ministry-- there is so much good going on here that we just can't get enough of it.

Rush YL

Chapter started at 7:32 tonight for Young Life. No one remembered the Creed, but thankfully we were dressed in our letters and everyone showed up so no one will have to pay a fine. 

In case you missed it, we made our own Rush YL video last week. I'd want to join after watching this. 

We got to see the college version of Johnna and Brad during their IU Greek days. And everyone else got to imagine what Greek life will look like...

We had our Rush YL banner and our YL wooden letters.

It was almost a decade ago now, but I loved my time as a SIB at Hope College. If I were still a Rush chair today, I'd fight to give a bid to every single one of these girls. Then I'd figure out a way to get all of them in my family. And when I was a Senior I'd will all of my letters to them.

Senior Exec board...

We started off the night with a Greek Alphabet Relay. 3 kids competed by hearing a string of Greek letters, running to the other side of the gym and reciting the combination perfectly. Once they got it correct, they learned the next set of 5.

Could you memorize these sets of letters?

Alpha Mu Zeta Iota Rho
Sigma Nu Epsilon Gamma Eta
Beta Delta Kappa Lambda Xi

Next we visited ancient Greece and had a toga fashion show...

Who wore it best?

Greek Life has shown up in movies and TV shows in recent years and we challenged kids to match the correct organization with each show.

Do you know who belongs to Oozma Kappa or Delta Nu?

One of the things we knew we wanted to do right away was to have Greek families-- it was just going to be tricky to split up this many kids so quickly. Abby Back, leader extraordinaire, made it happen and every kid got placed in a family.

We encouraged each family to make up a handshake or symbol, take a picture and do something fun together. It was initially awkward, but eventually totally awesome.

And we all know you're not really in Greek Life until you get to go to Informal...

We love a good dance party at HSE YL.

And with a quick song change to Cotton Eyed Joe it became Barn Dance.

And when we exchanged the overhead lights for flashlights and turned on Don't Stop Believing we were suddenly celebrating Activation Night.

Johnna delivered an epic Club talk tonight using the process of rush, bids and activation to talk about how you become part of the family of God. "Jesus came for each and every one of you. He's offering this gift to you. And this family, it's not exclusive. This family is for all of you." She gave each kid a "bid" that was their open invitation to accept Christ and told them that they could go pray with a leader or hold onto it if they still had more questions. We got to pray with kids who wanted to recommit their lives or who prayed to follow Christ for the first time. God is so good.

Tonight was a night we won't soon forget. We've even got to the YL '18 Pledge Class signed paddle as a reminder.