Worth it all

I'm standing in the common room/kitchen of a camp cabin on the final evening of a youth mission trip with a young man from our youth group. Despite being active in our fellowship for over a year, he's never attended one of the youth trips. For whatever reason, he decided to attend this one (making a full week committment to serve on a building team almost 3 hours from home).
I begin asking him about the week: have you enjoyed it, what did you think about it all, are you glad you came? (It was a lot to ask someone who so rarely speaks up and who, having graduated, is moving into a new phase in life). His response was something I will never forget. One sentence: "It's better to work 5 hours a day for a purpose, than to work 9 or 10 to get some money." I could have cried. (I did later that night). This was coming from someone who usually found it necessary to choose work over church activities.
I had been encouraging our students to pay attention to where they saw God this week. I saw him in the common room of that cabin Thursday evening. Evidently, some of our youth had seen him too. I don't care what others might say - that was worth it all! Rest assured that God is doing something special in you.