#and these aren't even very musically-oriented kids otherwise!! none of them have much interest in music in general!!

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

there are some things that I know happen in youth group because it's standard routine and/or the youth pastor's personal preferences showing through but it's interesting because there's a regular set of songs that he puts on in the background and there are two or three of those songs that even in stressful, emotional moments, when they start to play I can visibly see a lot of the kids relax. because our group doesn't have a ton of structure, it's a small group of kids and we tend to be pretty loose with it, not super strict with "oh we have to have exactly this much time for a game and this much time for a teaching and this much time for prayer," we let the kids guide it a lot – our teaching time is more like a group conversation, with the adults bringing a topic and some verses to start off and then we let the kids take it and go at it from whatever angle they want. a lot of times we get carried away with whatever new game someone has brought and end up going over time. but these kids have familiarity with what goes on here, with the words being consistently spoken over them — we hear the words to Way Maker and Who You Say I Am a lot, because something really central to the mission of this group is that we're about who God is and who that then means we are — and I swear, even me just invoking the lyrics of one of those songs when I'm talking to one of these kids gets something to noticeably click in their heads a lot of times. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I talk a lot about what music means to me and most of the time I'm talking about secular music because I myself find a lot of worth and connection there, but the point is, I guess, overall, no matter the kind of music, it has an effect. and that can be really really special