Lock In

"Lock In"

• close with or as if with a tight seal; "This vacuum pack locks in the flavor!"
• place in a place where something cannot be removed or someone cannot escape

Husband is the interim Youth Minister until arrangements can be made for another person to take over this spectacular group of kids. He loves the job, he loves the study, he loves the questions, he loves the games, he particularly loves the kids. He is really not more than about "12" himself, maybe "15" on a good day, so this is a dream job for him!

Monday is a holiday, so what must be done on a holiday weekend? Take your wife to the beach? Clean out a closet or two? Do some creative landscaping?

Oh no, silly...on a long weekend you plan things for the youth group. Things like a "lock in". (see definition #2 above)

These kids show up at 5:30 Sunday night. Enjoy some dinner together...many games...prayer...devotional with question and answer time...movies...snacks...etc. The alarm is set on the building so there can be no entering by strangers or exiting by students.

It is now 4:45 a.m. and husband is still irritatingly chipper and happy and full of energy. Me? I feel old and sore and very tired! In about an hour and a half, I will put some breakfast out for them and then they will head home...to sleep...except for one precious young man who has football practice at 7:00 a.m. Can you imagine? Staying up all night and then heading to football practice?

Let me think about that for a minute...I can't even imagine having football practice on a full night sleep, much less no sleep at all!

Well, bless them all. They are wonderful young people with sweet hearts and happy spirits. I do feel blessed to be around them...even if it means I miss a night of my beauty sleep. I can sleep any time, right? How often do you get to hang out with such cool young people!?

Blessings!