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From Resurrection 09

Photos taken by Davis, Morgan, Hannah and Harrison

WHOA! What an amazing weekend! I pretty much had to lay around all day yesterday on my day off, just so I could process through the whole thing! I mean, picture this: 58 teens and 13 adults, in a combined 7 vehicles (including 2 buses), with a new youth director and a new motel - travel to Holston youth's craziest event of the year, on the coldest night of the year, .... and nobody came back beat up, taped up, or locked up!

That's amazing in itself, and mostly due to the fact that this group has Resurrection down to a science. However, the coolest part about the whole weekend was that it wasn't just "old hat". Yeah, we've all heard the exciting speakers and the worship band, we've done the gatlinburg thing many times over and tried about every prank a "youngster" can pull. Yet, observing these youth, and this team of adults, over the weekend, you'd think this was one of the first go-rounds. The excitement level was high. So much for getting sleep on Saturday night.

I don't know that I've ever heard a speaker inspire and challenge the way Justin Lookadoo did. He spoke with authority and conviction, yet surrounded even the sharpest points with the kind of humor that let you know he was on the same level, the same journey that we were.

(We had close to 90% of our youth go forward to the altar on Saturday night, and not merely have an experience, but talk convincingly of the changes they want to make in thier lives.)

I don't know that ever had any youth actually ask ME if they could do a prank (yeah, i still said no), or walk into a convention with fake facial hair (Ben Graves looked real, I'm telling you. Scary.)

I do know I am not only proud of how everyone behaved, or how everyone responded to God's call (although I may be most proud of that), but how everyone accepted Shawna and myself into this proud "Keith-Resurrection Tradition." Haunted Houses, Laser Tag, singing in the bus, the Cherokee chant (I don't know what it's called, ha), racing Ashlee Beth old-man style across the parking lot: this weekend was one of the most fun I've ever had. Thanks guys!