Hope Night in the youth room

and the delicious glory of being alive

The air buzzes with energy in the Life Center tonight.

A whiteboard easel propped by the door reads: “Hope Night, 6 PM, Youth Room” in a teenager’s looping handwriting. Students mill in and out of the youth room while leaders set up chairs and prep snacks. I’m immediately drawn into the eager anticipation for what will take place tonight.

Before I can sidestep into the kitchen to help with snack prep, the student who helped organize this whole night grabs me for a hug. I ask him how he’s feeling and he admits: “nervous.” Excitement quickly lights his eyes as he reminds me how long they’ve prepared for tonight and how ready they are for it to happen.

I release him to finish the final details and pray with the worship team while I set out cookies and fill bowls with apples and grapes. At some point, I’m handed the bluetooth speaker we use on Sunday nights, so I connect my current worship playlist. Someone walks past the kitchen and I hear a comment about how the vibes are perfect for tonight. score.

This whole night has been student led. The idea, the execution, building the team, inviting friends and family—they have followed through on all of it. We are here because of their longing to worship God under this roof and I can’t help but feel an even greater sense of excitement because of it.

By 6 PM, nearly 60 people find their place in our little youth room and the aforementioned student opens the night in prayer and introductions. He shifts on his feet nervously, but he’s typed out everything he wants to say and I can’t wait to hear it.

What follows slowly fills the room with the unmistakable Spirit of God. These teens worship with their whole hearts on the stage and off it. Parents and younger siblings are just as invested and I find myself grinning and bouncing on my feet a little—I can’t keep still.

When they start the song “I Thank God”, two of our leaders bounce like Tiggers to the front of the room and draw all of us into their enthusiasm. We’re jumping up and down before long, which I know is no small thing. Teenagers (and honestly adults alike) are usually so concerned with what others think of them. But that pretense is falling away before my eyes as the desire to worship with their whole bodies grows stronger.¹

Several of the student worship leaders share their testimonies. I’m moved to tears by the powerful ways God has already transformed their hearts and minds and made Himself known to them in the midst of some really hard things. Woven throughout each of their stories is the profound desire to give God all the glory and make His name big. Y’all these are teenagers! May their faith inspire us all.

8 PM comes before I even fully register how the whole night has flown by. I’m admittedly tired and figure things will wrap up pretty quickly. But as Gio invites the worship team to end by playing “I Thank God” again, the energy in the room receives a fresh transfusion. He closes out the evening and no one moves.

Somehow dancing breaks out and, I kid you not, these students are going at it without music. There’s cheering and clapping and I don’t even know what to make of it.

When people tell you something is true so many times, but you’ve still yet to experience it, you’re understandably wary to believe them. I’ve heard countless pastors and youth pastors preach of the fun and joy of the Kingdom of God. And still, I’ve walked into service after service that follows the same pattern every single week. It’s not necessarily void of joy, but the spontaneous fun you find elsewhere isn’t frequently found in the Church.

Until tonight.

Tonight, the joy is beaming off these students and ricocheting off the walls so that not a single soul in the room is left untouched. No one wants to leave because we all know, even if we don’t have the words to say it, that something sacred and holy and fun is happening here.

I am going home alone because two boys convinced the rest of the group and my husband to stay for an impromptu Late Nighter round two². Thanks to the following day off school, their parents offer permission for them all to stay at the Church, playing games and spending time together. I’m floored. I’m overwhelmed by the beauty of God and the magnificent way our worship of Him changes us and bonds us together.

I head to my car with my coat zipped all the way up, rubbing my gloved hands together for warmth in the single digit air. I catch a glimpse through the youth room window of the chaos and joy still happening inside.

It may be frigid outside, downright undesirable and dark, but that room and my heart are teeming with the warmth of life.

—

For weeks now this one-liner in a recent novel I read keeps bouncing around in my brain:

“‘Dear, sweet Mabel,’ She said. ‘We never know what is going to happen, do we? Life is always throwing us this way and that. That’s where the adventure is. Not knowing where you’ll end up or how you’ll fare. It’s all a mystery, and when we say any different, we’re just lying to ourselves. Tell me, when have you felt most alive?’”³

I’ve been asking myself that question ever since and keeping my eyes open wide so I don’t miss the answer when it comes. Is it found in the magic of reading?⁴ Is it hidden in the gift of community?⁵ Is it the delight of giggling with my baby girl or writing a new essay or drafting a poem in my notes app as soon as inspiration strikes?

Yes, and…

The delicious glory of being alive is how every single one of those things points to a Creator, a mysterious and powerful God, who authors every inch of joy we experience this side of Heaven. The glory is to know God and make Him known.

The thing that makes me feel most alive will always be the presence of God. Thanks to a student led night of worship, I remember there can truly be no other answer.

Remembering who He is and all He’s done will forever light up my heart like nothing else can. And even after this earthly body is laid to rest and my time on earth is done, singing Holy, Holy, Holy will continue to be what gives me life for all eternity to come.

For all the unknown and unwanted ahead, I’ll just keep practicing for eternity—when I’ll be more alive than I’ve ever been before.

—

This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series "Alive."

1. This is proof that the kind exhilaration you feel when worshiping at an event like Passion, with thousands of people, also happens in normal church youth rooms with less than one hundred people. The worship team and number count don’t matter—the presence of God does.

2. Gio organized an official youth group Late Nighter event two days before this. It had already been postponed a week because of snow and less students showed up than he’d expected. He was pleased with the way the night turned out, but initially pressed with an insecurity about whether the students really wanted it. After Sunday, there was no doubt they really wanted it.

3. Page 258 in The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. An absolutely breathtaking and beautiful read.

4. My most favorite hobby and past-time. Before baby girl, I was known to read 3-4 books a week.

5. I invited my Mom over for a movie night last week while Gio was out and then both brothers ended up spontaneously at our place too. The conversation and quality time filled my heart until I was sure it would burst. Earlier this month I hosted a few dear friends for our first book club of the year. The joy of a shared interest and the delight of having baby girl with us kept my home warm long after they’d left.