Celebration

One of the absolute most fun things about working with youth is getting to throw parties for anything that can be celebrated. Planning events for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, Birthdays, or just because is just one way we create shared experiences with youth. Having common ground to stand on goes a long way in building meaningful, lasting relationships. Our homes, families, friends, and favorite foods may look really dinnerent...but we can all look forward to youth program specific traditions of celebrating everything. We can create shared memories and start conversations with "remember that one time at Friendsgiving when..."

When I was in youth group at McKendree UMC, there were some things we could always count on. We knew there would be a confirmation retreat, fall retreat, winter retreat, and summer retreat. There would be at least one option for a mission trip over summer and/or spring break, and some sort of Christmas party. As a 7th grader, you could look forward to being at the beach or mountains for your last retreat as a senior depending on if you were graduating in an even or odd year. Leadership changes happened, but these events stayed the same. They helped us form a group identity and provided stability we needed.

BUT, in Clarkston that can be hard. It's a transient town. Not only are our refugee neighbors in and out, but volunteers and leaders are even less consistent much of the time. This poses a real problem. How do we build common ground and fight for meaningful relationships if people are always coming and going? How do we maintain tradition if there are none?

The good news is that there are a lot of people who care about these things in our town. They know that if we pull our resources and focus, we can help create something really awesome for the youth.

Which brings me to tonight, the THIRD ANNUAL DODGE/DANCE/GLOW HALLOWEEN PARTY! We are expecting close to 150 people to participate in a dodleball tournament followed by our version of a rave (it involves a lot of neon, glow in the dark paint, and black lights). This is a victory to be celebrated as FOR youth, CIBC youth, Northlake Church of Christ youth, Proskuneo youth (click the link and learn how cool they are), and a few other groups all come together. We've worked hard with the help of many to prepare for this day. Decorations have been made, streamers have been hung, snacks ahve been prepared, the gym has been set up, coloring pages have be colored with highlighters to make our own black light posters...and it's finally time to bring it all together and have a really fun night with a whole lot of people.

As one who works with youth, I've learned that even the little things are worth celebrating. I hope you can celebrate with me that we have a 3rd annual event in a town searching for stability.

Look for pictures later on and find any reason to celebrate in your own life!

PS: Speaking of celebrations, we still have seats available for our 2nd annual Celebration Dinner. Please let me know if you are interested in joining. :)