Ugly Sweater. Deep Cry.

It's 7:05pm on Wednesday December 21st. I am in a jean shirt, Christmas vest and raindeer antlers. Yes, it is the last club of the year, also known as the Young Life Ugly Christmas Sweater Club where we exchange joke gifts. Kids are settling in, the gift table is stacked high, the atmosphere is palpable. I look up towards the front of the club room and I see a picture of myself on my Young Life Africa expeditions trip with music set in the background. The picture changes and I realize it is a slideshow of myself and the past 3 years of ministry. I start crying and crouch down so kids can't see my blubbering face.

After 8 minutes of seeing my life flash before my eyes, Quinlan Custer, one of the campaigner girls who I have grown so close to, stands up. She summons me to the front and I am walking on emotional jello. She looks to the crowd and says, "Many kids know this but Vanessa doesn't; everybody stand up..." I look out as over 20 of the 80 kids take off their ugly Christmas sweater to reveal a shirt with Young Life Belgium on the front. They turn around and there is a cut out of the country. Quinlan says, "When we heard that Vanessa was leaving and she had to raise money for Young Life Brussels...we just had to do something for her. So I got a friend to make these tshirts. We sold over 70 shirts and raised over $500 for your mission to Belgium. We love you Vanessa." Needless to say, my face was streaming mascara. I had never been honored in such an incredibly gut checking, humbling, out of body experience way.

I share this story because I am floored by the way the Lord moves. I am a broken vessel, an instrument for God's message of love that has been redeemed in places so that He may make His music known. More than that, this thank you, this blessing, is not about my life in Young Life, or in Southbury. It is about the purpose and the plan that God has for kids, here in Southbury and across the world. I had a false idea that I was there to serve kids. And yet here they were, blessing me in a way that could never be thanked enough, could never match any cup of coffee and conversation I had with them. Beyond that, kids in Southbury, Connecticut can say that they are the conduit for the message of Christ being brought to international kids in Brussels. This, at the end of the day, has nothing to do with me, but everything to do with the Kingdom, on earth as it is in Heaven.

Tommy and I - antlers and all!

Sara and Danielle in their shirts!

The incredible back of the shirt