Teen Valentine Banquet 2015

Last night was our annual teen Valentine Banquet and Scavenger Hunt. It was a much smaller group than we've had in past years, but still...a great group who attended.

We served the same thing as every year: beef and chicken lasagna, green beans, and garlic bread sticks.

Instead of 200 bread sticks, I only made 72! They were all gone, of course! (Have bread? They will come!)

For dessert we served the Layered Pudding Delight and Homemade Strawberry Shortcake, along with a few varieties of cookies.

The scavenger hunt consisted of two teams instead of the usual four or five teams.

And Joe had asked me to scale down the list quite a bit this year.  Probably a good thing, too! One group spent 30 minutes looking for a pink balloon!! Ha ha!!  Here's the list:
A number candle.
A pink balloon.
A signature of a deacon. (on back of this)
Sing a song preschool song to the worker at Hop ’n Sack.
Do a good deed for a high school teacher.
Get the signature of someone born in the 1940’s.
Sing a devo song for a retired teacher.
Do a good deed for an elementary teacher.
A piece of Valentine candy. Must be wrapped in Valentine paper.
A ticket from last night’s basketball game
Sing a songbook song to an elder and his wife.
Bring back 2 people who weren’t already here.

When the groups got back with the new guests, we had a devotional and sang some songs.

My husband gave the groups a hard time about their items - getting specific about some of the items!

There's something special about being around a group of teens and preteens!

They have an excitement that we adults tend to let go of as we grow up.

That's why Jesus told us to be as little children, isn't it?

The older we get, the more and more we lose that child-like quality...or the qualities....that He believes we should have.  He knows we should have.

We ended the evening with a prayer, thanking God for the day and for His guidance in keeping the eyes and minds and thoughts of the teens pure.

Here's a video of one of the teams singing to the convenience store clerk!