Chapter XXVII: Growth

The big weekend. Winter retreat 2011.

I survived.

Our high school group went up to Cran-Hill ranch this weekend for a few days. We had worship, heard guest speakers, played broom-ball, did some skiing, and had a blast. Despite the leg injury I gained through an aerial sledding stunt, it was a very fruitful weekend. The students grew spiritually and were both challenged and encouraged to take their faith more seriously.

And this is what made my week great.

I got to see firsthand the growth taking place in my students' lives. But they weren't the only ones who grew. The LORD definitely challenged me this weekend as well and taught me a few things.

For starters, I was again (I know I say this a lot) reminded how fortunate I am to be where I'm at. As the youth pastors met at the beginning of the retreat, it didn't take long for me to realize that I was the youngest by at least 5 to 10 years. It's amazing how God can use me despite my lack of age, experience, and wisdom.

But the LORD worked through me. And that's really the only reason I can do this job. The entire weekend I found myself saying/doing things that definitely didn't come from me. I constantly found myself smiling during small group discussions because I could feel God throwing ideas into my head and guiding my speech.

While this past week was mostly focused on the weekend, a few other things happened as well. So here's a list of some interesting things....

-Our band, Misfit Plaid, had another awesome practice (and a new bass amp).
-The Chicago Bears...well, you know how that turned out
-Learned a new dance move at swing dance
-Finally finished a climbing route I've been working on for a few weeks
-Saw the movie "Once"...pretty decent....good music

Finally, I just found out that my grandma passed away late last night. This was expected, but it's still hard on my family. So in addition to praying for my bum leg (stupid body just overreacted), please pray for us as we are traveling and grieving.

These prayer requests remind me that I'm still human. I still live in a human world. While this weekend was definitely productive, the LORD did all the work, and not me. I'm not perfect. I'm not above others. I can be broken. God still taught me things. So while I'm proud of what I've become and what I've done, there's still a long way to go.

Still learning,
-B