At 7am on July 28th, I got behind the wheel of a 15-passenger van full of high school kids and set off for Santa Cruz, CA for seven days of service, sunshine, worship, sleeping on a gym floor, and delicious food -- The BLCYM Summer Trip. In high school, I was lucky enough to go on three of these trips -- the first one was the summer before my junior year of high school, so I am not as lucky as the kids who get to go as incoming freshmen. It was an incredible experience to see this trip from the other side, as a leader instead of a student.
I am prone to exaggeration but seriously my small group was the best small group ever put together. They were so curious and so smart and just asked me every question they could think of, and were so impressed when it was something I'd thought about before and we could all walk through it together. And I'm not just talking about Jesus. We talked about outer space, the shooting in Aurora, Harry Potter, high school, the death penalty...you name it, it probably crossed our circle.
I really anticipated that this post would be really epic and full of pictures of all the awesome stuff we did...like it would have been were I a high school student...but instead, it's just a few words about the magnitude of the Holy Spirit's presence in 38 high schoolers. I worried about exhausting myself so close to my move to Colorado (more on that ASAP) but should have known that the week would, instead, energize me. I arrived home late that Friday night devastated that the trip was over. I didn't know what to do or where to go because I was not surrounded by my community anymore. I miss them. I really do.
The theme of the trip was Momentarily Forever (so process) and Jonathan spent his sermon times talking about experiencing God through each other in all moments, and grabbing hold of eternal life now, not just assuming it will grab us when we're dead.
One of the daily devotions was Jesus washing the disciples feet. In order to express our deep love for each other, during Wednesday night worship, Jonathan washed the leaders' feet, and we washed the feet of the kids in our group. I cried the entire time. Again, I miss them.
But rather than being down on not being with them, I'm choosing to be STOKED off what the universe is going to throw my way as I begin my internship. The spirit moves in Santa Cruz, and in Encinitas, and in Littleton. I'm sure of it.
I am prone to exaggeration but seriously my small group was the best small group ever put together. They were so curious and so smart and just asked me every question they could think of, and were so impressed when it was something I'd thought about before and we could all walk through it together. And I'm not just talking about Jesus. We talked about outer space, the shooting in Aurora, Harry Potter, high school, the death penalty...you name it, it probably crossed our circle.
I really anticipated that this post would be really epic and full of pictures of all the awesome stuff we did...like it would have been were I a high school student...but instead, it's just a few words about the magnitude of the Holy Spirit's presence in 38 high schoolers. I worried about exhausting myself so close to my move to Colorado (more on that ASAP) but should have known that the week would, instead, energize me. I arrived home late that Friday night devastated that the trip was over. I didn't know what to do or where to go because I was not surrounded by my community anymore. I miss them. I really do.
The theme of the trip was Momentarily Forever (so process) and Jonathan spent his sermon times talking about experiencing God through each other in all moments, and grabbing hold of eternal life now, not just assuming it will grab us when we're dead.
One of the daily devotions was Jesus washing the disciples feet. In order to express our deep love for each other, during Wednesday night worship, Jonathan washed the leaders' feet, and we washed the feet of the kids in our group. I cried the entire time. Again, I miss them.
But rather than being down on not being with them, I'm choosing to be STOKED off what the universe is going to throw my way as I begin my internship. The spirit moves in Santa Cruz, and in Encinitas, and in Littleton. I'm sure of it.