Have you ever felt that even though this world is full of so many people, it is a small place? This is how I feel when I meet other people who have ever been involved with Younglife.
Younglife is a large organization, but it feels so small. Anytime I meet someone who has done Younglife, it is almost a guarantee that we have at least one mutual friend in common. It is so fun to meet Younglife people and look at how many Facebook friends we have in common. I have experienced the beauty of this many times.
The first time this ever happened to me was when I went on Summer Staff at Washington Family Ranch, a Younglife Camp. There were a couple girls in my room and they kept asking if I knew different people and I did. They knew a few girls from the Younglife Club I went to in high school. This was so cool because the world started to connect together.
I was giving Younglife stickers away on campus and I met a girl who did Younglife in Bozeman, MT and did work crew last year at Washington Family Ranch. I complimented her headband and then we started talking about how I got my headband at Younglife camp this summer. This is when I found out that she has also been influenced by Younglife. Then we started talking and we knew so many of the same people scattered around the country. We had talked about this and then she had me add her on Facebook and we had way more mutual friends in common. We later realized we were at the same club at University Montana last year in March and she got called up to participate in a mixer that she hated because it was with raw hot dogs and she hates hot dogs. Then she told me to add another Younglife girl from Bozeman, MT on Facebook, who she said I had a lot in common with. It turns out we had almost fifty mutual friends all from Younglife. This was amazing because once again, the world felt so connected.
I also met this guy on campus from Alaska and it turns out his high school Younglife leader was talking to me about him at camp this summer. His name had been in my prayer journal for months. It was so cool to put a face to the name I had been praying for all summer long. When I met him he was so excited about Younglife and this brought so much joy to my heart.
After I thought I had met all the students who has done Younglife before I kept meeting more. I met some people who had done YL in various places around Montana and Idaho. I met another kid who I had also been praying for all summer at the Welcome Fair for all the clubs on campus. He came up to the YL booth and asked if he could sign up. I asked if he knew what Younglife was and he proceeded to tell me that he was involved in it through high school. He also told me that he went to Malibu Club, a Younglife Camp in British Columbia. When he told me his name and where he was from I realized that his regional director told me about him while I was on summer staff this past summer. I always get so happy to meet other YL people.
Younglife is such a special thing. When you meet a fellow "Younglifer" nothing else matters. You instantly want to be this person's friend and odds are you will be friends for a lifetime. You want to hear about their journey in Younglife. I have made so many great friends through YL. It is so cool to see how many people know what YL is and how many people have ever been impacted by this beautiful organization.
Younglife creates such a special bond through out the world. If I see Younglife in someone's bio on Instagram it is an automatic to follow them. They usually follow me back as well even though we both have no clue in the world who the other one is. We both have a huge passion for Younglife and that is all that matters.
Younglife is so special and it constantly continues to make this large world feel so small.
