let's get wyld.

120 middle schoolers. 12 hours in the middle of the night. 50 boxes of pizza. 2 buses. $400 spent on fro-yo. 

Sounds ridiculous. Who wants to spend that much time with that many middle school kids? Not me. 

But, I still went to the annual Wyldlife Lock-out. Because I had to be there. By the end of the night, I realized that middle schoolers aren't that bad. Yes, they may be awkward. Yes, they may be kind of annoying at times. 

But, they also have some pretty great personality traits. They are willing to try anything and do anything. They are willing to go hard because they have the energy to do it. They are willing to talk about what's going on in their lives because they desperately want someone to know them, the real them. Those are my kind of people. 

A big bonus of the night was the chance to see the junior girls be "leaders." These are the girls who I have become friends with over the past few years, the ones who I know, the girls who I have sacrificed my time, my energy, my sanity for. And, if I ever need a reminder that being a part of Young Life is worth it, then this lock-out was that moment for me. All of the juniors had a group of middle school girls that they hung out with for the night. They followed them around and awkwardly tried to have conversations with them. They sat in a circle trying to have real conversations about life and Jesus and were faced with blank looks and silence and some tears. They did with the middle school girls what I have been trying to do for the past few years. 

I can't guarantee that they will have any sort of life-changing revelation after this, but I do know that this was a beautiful night. A 17-year old girl talking to a 12-year old girl about her family problems and just listening. Another girl playing three games of laser tag in a row with her group at 3am just because that's what they want to do. 

Not all high school kids are willing to do that and be that for younger kids. That's a beautiful thing that they are willing to be there.