So it is always nice if you plan an event and people show up. Second pool party in as many weeks and we had 50 plus kids again. I don't say this for the numbers thing because it isn't about numbers. Ok, on one hand it is nice to have a critical mass. You definitely need a certain amount of people for that excited feeling like this is the place to be. But here is where the cool part comes in. We had a comment from a student who we invited, along with others, to our house after the pool party, that said at his other church he didn't think his youth pastor even knew his name and no way would he ever think he would be at his house. Now to be fair I know the other youth pastor (who actually is a senior pastor now) and his ministry is many times larger than mine so practically speaking he cannot know as many kids personally because of the size of his audience he usually deals with. But that is the beauty of a ministry that is not as big. More personal relationships can possibly develop. To know and be known is a desire we have have whether we are pushing 40 or if we are 17. That is also the beauty of God. His audience is big... the whole world. Yet he knows us by name. He can be trusted. God's love is patient. It is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. His love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God's love never fails. The only hard part is waking up the next day after kids leave your house at a few minutes before 1am.