A Cry Out To Jesus (The Extended Hobson Family Triliogy: Book 1)

Youth Group Overnighter

Pastor Jeff, Amy, and I arrived at the church and went to the youth building. There were still chairs set up from Wednesday night, so the first thing we did was take this down. Then we had to set up a couple of snack tables, filled with chips and veggie platters. Just as we finished with the small amount of set up, our first youth grouper came in, even though he was 15 minutes early. I had never seen him before, so I decided to walk up to him and introduce myself.

"Hi. I'm Amelia Applegate. I don't think we've met before."

"I'm Dylan Grant. It's nice to meet you Amelia."

"Are you new to town?"

"I'm visiting family. My parents grew up here, so they decided to come for a visit."

"How did you find out about the overnighter?"

"My parents used to be friends with Jeff and Amy, so after they met up for lunch, my parents told me I was going to this overnighter. I really didn't have a choice, but it should be fun."

"With people as fun as Pastor Jeff and Amy leading the night, you can count on fun."

"How big is your youth group?"

"There are about 40 kids."

"Wow, my youth group only has about 15 kids max when everyone shows up."

"It's kind of easy to get lost in such a big crowd, but you get used to it after a while. Just stick with me tonight and you'll be fine."

"I think I'll take you up on that offer. So what are we doing first?"

"First I need to meet with the worship team to get the song schedule for tonight. I'm on the worship team, and we always start out our overnighters with a time of worship before Pastor Jeff says a quick sermon."

"That's so cool. I'm on my worship team back home too. Do you play an instrument?"

"If you count my voice as an instrument. I've never had much of a passion to learn to play any instruments. What about you?"

"I sing and play acoustic guitar."

"Maybe I could convince the rest of the worship team to let you join us tonight."

"That would be great. I'd love to join your team for the night. There isn't an extra guitar around is there? My parents wouldn't let me bring mine with me."

"I'm afraid not, but we have extra microphones, so you can sing if you want."

"That's fine with me."

About that same time the rest of the worship team arrived. Each of them gave me a hug and asked me if I was all right enough to sing tonight. I told them that I was and introduced them to Dylan. They thought the idea of him joining us tonight was a great idea. We got the songs ready then the rest of the youth group started to come in in large waves of people. The whole crowd took a seat on the ground and quieted down. "I guess that's our cue." One of the other worship leaders said and we all got into position on the stage.