The first group of girls I met after coming on staff in June of 2006 was a mix-match group of about 15 seventh-grade girls. These girls varied in personality, social status and maturity, but because of WyldLife, they were all friends, and they welcomed me with open arms.

During the next year, the girls faithfully attended all WyldLife events and came to cabin times ready to talk, listen and share what they were learning about God. Though these girls didn't hang out together all the time and weren't even super close within the walls of their middle school, they found a safe place in WyldLife; so when it came time to go back to summer camp, my co-leader and I had a different plan in mind.

All of them had been to camp at least once, and they had all attended the WyldLife weekend that winter. These girls each had some form of a relationship with Christ and were always asking deep questions, so we knew we needed to create something special for them: our first-ever "Girls Trip."

Thanks to a generous committee family, we were able to take 10 of the girls away to a house in Vermont for four days over the summer on a trip designed especially for them. We drew up custom invitations, made all the arrangements and were off on an adventure. During the four days, we went outlet shopping, visited an amusement park-type place, did group activities, cooked meals together and celebrated our last evening with a fancy dinner out. But the most important thing was our time to grow in Christ.

Each night of the trip we sat down together in our own cabin time and studied at the Bible. We navigated through questions, thoughts, inspiration, encouragement and the practicalities of living out our faith. The trip that we'd entered with uncertainty in what to expect ended with deep friendships and the girls really feeling that they had "graduated" from WyldLife and were ready for high school and for Young Life.

Last month, the girls finished their freshman year of high school. All year they were key assets to our Campaigner group, consistently showing up each week ready to learn, ready to share and ready to continue their journeys with Christ.

All of them came away from our Girls Trip feeling that each element was designed with them in mind. They came away feeling loved, accepted and excited to learn more about Christ. It was a time to build relationships, to share our stories of Christ's great love in our lives and time to help the girls navigate through their own lives in relation to Christ. Isn't that really what it's all about?