You may remember a few weeks ago our Staffs’ teenagers got together for a fun night which included a meal, card game, and movie!

While at this party – they also drew names. We played our version of Secret Santa. In our version you have to complete 3 Acts of Kindness without getting caught. Then the day before the Christmas party – each of you have to tell me who you think has your name. I then tally all the results and reveal at the party – who they guessed  AND who actually was their Secret Santa.

I collected all their “guesses” last night. So tonight is the big reveal! If they guess correctly – they get a prize. If they guess wrong – then the person who drew their name gets a prize!

Here’s a pic of those results….

Our party started at 5pm and everyone wore their Sunday best! Right before I got up to speak – three of the young men wanted to do a special presentation. One spoke in English, one spoke in Spanish, and the other spoke in French! It was such a BEAUTIFUL speech – thanking us for the way we have surrounded them with love since the Hurricane! Momma Gigi and I were both in tears.

After they spoke – I shared my heart with them…. how proud I am of the way they take care of their moms…. how important they are to our ministry here…. how they are the sons & daughters of a mighty King who smiles down on them every single day…. how I want to show my appreciation for them more often.

Then we had a wonderful feast of food!

After we ate Susan showed them a new card game – called Bad Neighbor! Basically you pass out one card to each person.  They can then change it with one neighbor or pass. The person with the lowest card loses. So you want to give your neighbor the worst card. Each person is given 3 pieces of candy. Every time you lose you put a piece of candy in the middle … until you are out.  The winner then gets all the candy! 🙂

After our card game we did the Secret Santa Reveal and passed out prizes! 🙂

After the Santa Reveal I had one last game! I knew from their parents that they didn’t have any money to buy Christmas gifts this year. So on a table with a tree were 16 glittery boxes. Each box contained a different amount of money in it. A heavy box might indicate a lot of money – or it might mean a lot of small bills. A light box might be a bigger dollar value.  Or I could have mixed both small and large bills together. Who knows?

They walked in a circle on numbered Santa hats. When the music stopped –  you stood on a number. I then drew a number out of a hat. If it’s your number – you got to pick from the table first. You could shake the boxes and hold them to compare weights – but you couldn’t open them until the last person had their box! They LOVED this game! 🙂

Then we finished the night off with dessert & more fellowship around the table! 🙂

A good time was had by all….they had never been to a fancy dinner before…. in fact they said they’ve never been apart of anything like this before. They were so thankful and I was so humbled by their gratitude! I should have been doing this a long time ago….

Hurricane Matthew and subsequent flooding nearly destroyed our community – but it also brought all of us together. I wouldn’t have thought about pouring into these kids had I not watched their nightmare unfold before me. Beauty from ashes….