THEY KEEP ME YOUNG

Just 4 days after I returned home from our Lawson family beach trip I got to return to the beach with the youth group from our church. These kids are a pleasure to be with. I love them. When I hear people say bad things about the young people today I want to tell them to take a trip with this group. They will touch your heart and they help keep me young. We spend the days on the beach, go out to eat that night and then have a devotional late each night. This group can do some singing also! We attract a lot of attention on the beach when they decide to sing. Now sometimes or really most of the time I have to leave the late devotional and go to bed. I lived with Big John for too long , who had to leave for work around 4:30 each morning, and just can't get used to late late nights. But this great group of kids don't kid me about it too much. Saturday night we go out to eat, usually go ride the go carts and then after 12:00 PM go to a secluded spot on the beach and have church. We have a devotional led by the kids, singing and then have Communion. It is very moving to do this under a big moon with the waves crashing around you. After communion the youth group does something that they have been doing for years.....letters to God. Every time the youth group goes on a trip together they write letters to God. That is about three times a year. The letters are really a written prayer of praise and laying out your cares and burdens. We adults do this also. These letters are sealed back up and put in a container that is strictly guarded so no one ever sees what you write. It is amazing to go back every 3-4 months and see what prayers have been answered and how they have been answered and it makes you so aware of all your blessings given by God. Also, parents...or husband....writes the person a letter about the things going on in their life at that time. The youth group treasures these letters and they also reread them every time. Another special thing is that when they are a senior every member of the group writes them a letter. This can take a while to read. We all go to a separate spot on the sand with a flashlight or beach lamp and it is quite a picture. When they have read all their letters and written their letter to God they come back to us and we put their packet safely in the special container for safe keeping until the next trip. We usually end the service on the beach by singing The Greatest Command. When this group sings this song it will give you chill bumps and make you cry. We then load up and go to the Waffle House for chocolate chip waffles and get back to the condo around 5:00 AM.

Central Church of Christ Youth Group 2009

Love these girls!!!


My buddies, Daphne and Melissa, the youth group leaders