Baggage Claim — Unzipped - Wednesday
Today’s Verse
Ecclesiastes 3:4
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. (ESV)
If you’ve read any of my devotions, you know I talk about my high schoolers a lot. I’ve led a group at Southland Students for years, some of them since third grade. A few weeks ago, we wrapped up our final Wednesday night of their senior year. Just like that, a long, meaningful season came to a close.
We’ve been through everything together: inside jokes, COVID Zoom calls, chaotic group chats, awkward middle school years, family struggles, doubts about faith, and real heartbreak. And on that final night, we shared a moment I am always humbled to participate in: I got to baptize one of them.
He stood in front of friends who’d walked with him for years and leaders who had prayed over his life, and he chose to follow Jesus. It was a perfect way to end that season. We laughed, celebrated, took pictures, and told stories.
But driving home afterward, the weight of it all landed on me. I sat in silence and teared up, grateful, overwhelmed, and honestly, a little broken. I’ve spent thousands of hours with these guys. Hundreds of texts, dozens of retreats, years of showing up when it was inconvenient. And now... It’s over. Not the friendships or connections, but the rhythm. The circle of chairs in classrooms, restaurants, and living rooms where we made space for sarcasm, honesty, and prayer.
Ecclesiastes 3 says there’s a time to laugh and a time to weep. That night definitely held both for me. These guys gave me some of the greatest joy I’ve known, and they’ve brought me to tears, whether it was from laughter, frustration, or pain. Honestly, sometimes all three.
Maybe that’s my point. Joy and sorrow don’t always cancel each other out. They often show up together. I’m grateful and grieving. If you look at the story of Lazarus, Jesus wasn’t afraid of that collision. We don’t have to be either.
REFLECTION
Where have you been using laughter to avoid something deeper? Who could you talk to about it this week?
Shameless Plug: Want to experience what it feels like to invest in the lives of the next generation? Start a conversation about volunteering today. I can truly say it will change your life, and theirs.
