Sleepless at District Blitz 2011

It's 5:15 p.m. right now and these are my boys sleeping.  They were at the District Blitz in Duluth this weekend with our youth group.  The Blitz is a yearly rally where thousands of teens come together to be inspired by worship music, a speaker, an artist, break out sessions and each other.  I went as a chaperone for the first time this year.  Watching seventy plus kids and driving 300+ miles wasn't on my schedule for that weekend, but I'm glad I was asked and I'm glad I didn't miss out. 
The speaker was D.A. Horton, a Pastor, Rapper and Bible College Professor who grew up in an inner city gang filled area where he was a thief and a drug user before he became a Christian at a youth group function he went to with his friend.  He resonated with the kids not just because he was a really good rap singer, but his passion for living for Jesus through the words of the Bible was real and contagious and I was so proud of the things I heard coming from our kids.  In our small group time they shared how hard it is to be a Christian in school because of the peer pressure.  At East Ridge High School which has to be over 1,000 kids, only 5 of them showed up for "Meet you at the pole," a day where Christian students meet at the flag pole to pray for their school and their fellow students.  I started to wonder how many adults I know that could withstand that kind of pressure. 
There were so many great things about this weekend, including the pastor who lets our five oaks kids sleep all over his church every year to keep the cost down for us, the college students who come back to help out, and the high school student leaders who make the new seventh graders feel welcome, but the thing that really inspired me was realizing that the teenagers in our church, are as a group, probably the strongest force for God in our church.  I've seen women's and men's ministries in action and I've been in small groups for years.  I know what our weekend church services are like and all of those things have made a difference in the community around us.  But as a whole group, I've never experienced the like mindedness and sense of community and shared passion for Christ like I did with these teenagers over the weekend. 
And there is nothing like worshipping with teenagers.  During Saturday night worship there were hundreds of kids forming lines, dancing up and down the aisles. They crowded around the edge of the stage like they were at a rock concert. One kid got on the stage and did the entire Napolean Dynamite recital.  They were loud and stood on chairs and did synchronized waves and head bops and whatever else you can think of.  It was very unlike my last Sunday worship service. 
I did not get ANY sleep at this thing, but it was worth it to get filled up spiritually and emotionally by these kids of ours.  The entire experience made more sense to me the request Jesus makes to us to come to Him as children.  They are so much more fun than us boring adults!