Lock In

Right now there is a lock in at the church and we are really pleased to have 11 kids at it! woo hoo! This is very good for us.

I went over there at 7 PM to gr.eet the kids and do some "icebreaking games" and to guide them as we did 2 projects for church. They put together 115 Advent Devotional Guides and about50 candle ornaments for the 30th of November. And then I left.

Kacey and Marnie are going to play games with the kids for the next few hours and then Frank Gonazales will come in and sleep with them. We will go back and make breakfast in the morning.

I can't help but reflect on all the lock ins that I have participated in over the years. The first lockins was in the late 70's I was working with youth in Lebanon Ohio. We did an overnight at the local Y and there was no intention of sleeping. There is nothing like playing racquetball at 4 oclock in the morning.
I remember doing lockins at Northwest Christian Church in the 80's, playing sardines in the church and finding the best hiding places and being up at 3 am and shoooing the kids back into the sleeping spaces.
I did Lock Ins in Zanesville and in Bowling Green. Some of the stuff is the same in every lock in - the rules, the games, the music, the snacks, the pizza, the movies at the end and the hope that the kids will finally sleep. I have had a LOT of fun with kids and the kind of adults that like to work with kids. It can get pretty silly and it is a different kind of fun for me. One year we had a young male youth advisor bring in video games and that was a huge mistake because there is nothing like 6th grade boys with the ability to stay up all night playing games - they were wired!

I started working with youth 35 years ago when Kacey was walking around in a walker and Marnie was an infant. And now my girls have children older than that. It gives you pause!

What was very funny tonight was talking about music and feeling really old because I don't even have or know what to do with an I Pod. But then they talk about the Beatles and Chicago and Journey and the bridge is crossed a little.

Anyway, it is good to be home - but I know that if I were at the church playing games right now I would really be having a good time! Because Lock ins are fun!

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