By Curt Williams, Founder & Executive Director
As you read this, we are busy planning a wonderful holiday season for our boys. Only one or two will be able to spend Christmas with family, and the rest will be here with us. In some ways, we selfishly want them all with us, but we know that healthy time with their families can be very good.
This season can bring on some deep emotional challenges for the boys in our care. We recognize that they will deal with anxiety and the complex emotions brought on by a season that amplifies feelings of loneliness and disconnection. This is one of many reasons why we do all we can to foster the embrace of family here on our campus. We want them to feel they belong, they are valued and they are respected—because they are.
Many of you have already asked what you or your group can do for the boys this Christmas, and I must say that the best you can do is help us provide the gift cards that they so value. You see, their favorite day is not Christmas, but the day after Christmas, when we take them shopping with the gift cards that they have received. The best way we have found to do this is to combine the funds provided and purchase the gift cards for the boys to use on the biggest shopping excursion of the year. If this is something you’d like to contribute to, please note your gift accordingly.
On December 26, we will take them to an area mall, and even though it will be crowded, they always go absolutely nuts. We split them up with a few staff members and they go on the hunt. New shoes, jeans, jackets, watches, ball caps and even books are on their lists. This is an all-day affair and afterwards we take them to a nice restaurant for a good sit-down meal. It is both exhausting and exhilarating.
You may, though, choose to do something else, and that is why we created our 2025 Christmas Wish List. These are items we will purchase and outings we will plan that will greatly improve the Youth-Reach experience for our kids. Please take a look at the list and consider if you, your family, your small group, or your business might provide for one of these items. We have tried to offer a wide variety of prices and opportunities.
As we all negotiate our way through the Christmas season, please allow me to wish you and your family a very Jesus-focused celebration of our Savior’s birth. May we find moments to step aside from all of the secular distractions and find a wealth of peace in a God who would eschew the pleasures of heaven to come and dwell amongst us. There is no more profound or preposterous event in all of history than the decision for God to become man. There would be no John 3:16, no miracles, no parables, and no Calvary without the invasion of creation by its Creator. I hope that this still leaves you astonished. I hope this still leaves you awash in gratefulness.
I, for one, can say that I am a deeply grateful man. I am grateful for my salvation, my wife, my children, my health, and my calling here at Youth-Reach. I am also very grateful for those of you who see the eternal value of our work here and have chosen to invest in our kids. It is beautiful, and I am thankful.
Merry Christmas!
