Searching and Knowing

"Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me," begins Psalm 139.
  Senior High youth group began on Sunday evening with a search:

Group #1 finds green fish...

Group #2 thinks they're very clever to discover a green plant inside this office...

Group #3's super sleuth skills helped them uncover a hidden dinosaur lurking on the altar...

The kids divided up into three groups, and, with a nod to St. Patrick's Day, endeavored to find as many green things as possible from around the church, being creative and thorough in their quest.  The groups were encouraged to take pictures (using their cell phones) of items too big to carry back, and tried to find as many of the previously-hidden small items (dinosaurs, lizards, and bugs, oh my!) as they could.  Prizes were awarded for the most creative "green" finds (like the hybrid Honda Civic and the recycling bin); the highest number of items collected (one group had 55!) and the overall greenest list (that award went to the group that found the Cascade bottle, hidden in the depths beneath the kitchen sink).

Tallying the final results of the hunt...

A finished Scavenger Hunt list, plus one "collectible."

We enjoyed a veritable feast of green treats, including cupcakes made by two of our very own, plus cookies, green salsa and chips, dried kiwi, and more.  We played several rounds of Apples to Apples, a game that is impossible to play without lots of laughter.

Later, we revisited Psalm 139 1-18, the same Psalm that we used to launch our first youth group meeting.  I divided the kids into groups, and assigned each group a set of verses to act out for the group:

O Lord,
You have searched me and known me.  
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path
and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; 
it is so high that I cannot attain it.

Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say "surely, the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night,"
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother's womb
I praise you,
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written 
all the days of that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed.
How weighty to me 
are your thoughts, O God!  
How vast is the sum of them!
I try to count them -
they are more than the sand;
I come to the end
-I am still with you.

 Our discussion about the text was rich, as were the many questions asked and pondered.  As our time together drew to a close, I posed one final question to the group.  After taking a close look at a collection of envelopes displayed on the table, I asked that each person choose the envelope that best represents the shape and size of their faith right now: 

I was filled with gratitude, awe, and love when I heard the kids offer their rationale for the envelope they chose.  Their answers were as unique and varied as their individual selves, and each answer was thoughtful and reflective.  Some spoke of choosing bigger or smaller envelopes during different times in their lives; others chose according to the color of the envelope; still others chose the envelope with the window, or hole - because their faith sometimes has holes in it.  Another chose the large, padded, beat-up envelope because of the protection that faith offers, and that it is well-worn and tested.

Dear Reader, which envelope best represents the size and shape of your faith right now?  Would you choose an even bigger envelope, as I did, after hearing kids sharing their perspective on faith?