Some of the best times of my ministry life were spent in the dusty town of Lubbock, Texas at an annual event known as Encounter. Sponsored each June by Lubbock Christian University, over 1,000 high school students descend on that campus and if they are open to the opportunity, can actually "encounter" the awesome and powerful presence of God.
For several consecutive years as one guy in a band of merry youth ministers, we collectively poured our hearts and souls into innovative classes and plenary addresses. College students consistently gave up a week of their summer break to be a blessing and a friend to teens they had only just met. It was simultaneously one of the most exhilarating and tiring weeks of each summer. It has now been nearly a decade since I was last there and I didn't realize how much I've missed being a part of it until a couple hours ago.
Tonight my oldest daughter arrived home from her first LCU Encounter and I can already see a formative difference it has made in her life. She left younger and came back older. Not just chronologically, but spiritually and emotionally more mature and refined. Sure, she told us of all the jokes, the fun and the memories, but I can see a deepening has occurred, too. Simply the way she spoke of worship on the final night was different than I've ever heard her speak of worship previously. It was obviously time (and money) well spent.
It was a time passage. I'm thankful for the investment we made in students decades ago and now I'm thankful for those who've invested themselves in the lives of students today. What a pleasure to feel the encounter with God blessings again, only from a different viewpoint -- a generation removed. Truly a time passage.
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