The "Why" of the National Youth Gathering

Hello, friends. I'm spending my day doing last-minute packing and cleaning and errands, so naturally, I'm procrastinating by writing a blog post. Don't act like you're surprised!

When you attend the National Youth Gathering, whether as a youth, a Young Adult Volunteer, a Community Life Builder, an adult chaperone, a Gathering planner, a member of a band, an exhibitor, a speaker, or anything else I've missed, you bring a lot of things back with you. You bring back memories - some good, some bad, some thought-provoking, some silly. You bring back a fancy new backpack and Bible. You bring back a lot of other stuff from booths and sessions and sightseeing. You bring back new friends and renewed friendships. You bring back a sense of purpose, given to you by God at the Gathering. You never return the same way you came.

But I'm not coming back yet. I'm going. So my question for myself today is, what am I taking with me to the National Youth Gathering?

There's the obvious, of course. I'm taking a duffel bag full of clothes and toiletries. I'm taking an old Concordia Wisconsin cross country backpack full of medical forms and tour reservations and first aid supplies and snacks. I'm taking a blanket and a pillow. I'm taking chargers for my phone and Kindle.

Then there's the less obvious. Those of you who have worked with me in the past know I like to ask the question "Why?" I want to know the goal. I want to have a reason for doing what we're doing. That reason can never be "because we've always done it that way."

So what goal, what reason, am I taking with me to the Gathering? What is the "Why?"

The "why" I take with me today is the same "why" that I have every time I plan a youth group event at home. Whether we're gathered in a group of four or twenty thousand, the "why" is the same: to grow in faith in God, in fellowship with one another, and in fervor towards the Great Commission. That's what I take with me. It's important for me to recognize this today, or it will get lost amid the travel details and heat and humidity and exhaustion and excitement and reunions and crowds. I take this with me, as I take it with me everywhere.

As I return to packing and cleaning and errands, pray that I keep my youth safe on this trip and help them to recognize the "Why."