What an amazing night. The incredible organization that is Young Life has intentionally been going to meet teens where they are, helping them to know who Jesus is, for 75 years (50 years here in Houston.)

I got to emcee the celebration tonight and it was awesome!

Just in case you’re not familiar with Young Life, you may be familiar with Christian artist Brandon Heath. He has a very cool Young Life story that he shares in this video.

Young Life leaders impacted Brandon Heath personally. They shared with him how much Jesus loved him, and that started him on a life-changing journey.

Stories just like Brandon’s are happening all over Houston. That is exciting.

And tonight, I was honored and excited to emcee the Young Life gala for the 2nd year in a row. We were all dressed up in the beautifully decorated room at the River Oaks Country Club. Pinch me. I still can’t believe I had the honor of standing before Young Life staff, supporters, donors and friends, to celebrate the incredible milestone of 75 years (50 in H-town!)

It was exciting to be in the room as “Jimmy Rock” and “Fernando” (I mean, Fred), were able to actually have FUN and raise money at the same time, to help expand Young Life’s multicultural ministry in the Greater Houston region and send kids to the “Best Week Of Their Lives” at camp! Woohoo!!

As if that wasn’t enough, I had another honor — introducing guest speaker, Lee Strobel, author of life-changing books like “The Case for Christ” and his new “The Case for Grace.”

Lee was very open and vulnerable. I knew he had been an atheist before he became a Christian, but I hadn’t heard his personal testimony of being a drunk dad. He shared how his wife and daughter, for her first 5 years of life, didn’t have quite the best husband and father. After Lee came to know Jesus, the change was dramatic. In fact, it led his 5 year old daughter to declare that she wanted to know Jesus like her daddy because it changed his life. Wow.

Lee was very gracious with all of us fans, wanting to chat and take pictures with him. In this picture, Lee and I are in the middle, with the very cute Lynsey and Michael joining us. I was sitting with Michael and Lynsey and we just had a great time, chatting and having fun.

And I have to say thank you to “Jimmy Rock,” James Rockwell, Regional Director for Young Life Greater Houston Region. He is always awesome to work with, very encouraging and I hope we definitely get to do this again. It was fun!