This is the reason I got into to this biz in the first place.

Today I went to the funeral of a teenage kid I didn't even know. I ended up spending the next seven hours there.

This 17 year old, from all accounts was a true joy, and seemed to be everyone's best friend. The local baptist church was packed to the gills with greiving teenagers. Even as an outsider it was difficult.

I took one of my high schoolers and her father out to lunch, and then went to the house of the parents. There were over 100 kids there. Abandoned by their parents in their time of need. Hugging, wailing, laughing, eating. Everyone was sad for their loss, but happy to be with their friends.

As the day went on, I started to get to know the kids. The wake was in a nearby trailer park, where many of the kids live. They weren't the straight-A crowd. Every one of them was a skater and a smoker. Some jumped a fence when a police car drove by. Many attended the local alternative school. Many of them were drop outs, living at home with no job or plans to return to school.

Not really knowing the kids, or what to do at a funeral. I did the only thing I could think of. I bought a bunch of Mountain Dew, grabbed a few dozen Journey water bottles and spent the rest of the day making new friends. I used a line I learned from Don McLaughlin back in Atlanta was to ask someone to share their favorite memory of the deceased. Each person giggled, and told me some story of how their friend had brightened a sad day.

I had trouble pulling myself away once I met these kids, and after a few hours, it occurred to me why. A few summers ago I worked with a street outreach called Dry Bones. I've never really been the same since. In many ways, these were the same kids: on the verge of the homeless life themselves. These kids were messed up. Oversexed, addicted, covered with cuts. They weren't the nice and clean suburban church kids. They were gutterpunks.

I never wanted to be a "minister" or a "pastor." I got into this business for one reason, and one reason only: to be the voice of God in a dark and lonely place, to go to those furthest from Him, even if all they were ready to take was a watter bottle.

It's been a long day. The hardest I've had since I got to Journey. But for the first time, in a very long time I feel like I spent an entire day on mission.

Those kids are the reason I got into this business.