Overwhelming…

July 15, 2008

The only way I can describe my experiences these past few weeks is, “overwhelming.” 

The week at Mt. Cross for Shalom camp was a wonderful experience (hopefully some of you who were there, will share your thoughts in a comment).  I got to spend time with a bunch of awesome young people and just hang out.  The experiences that we shared gave us a frame of reference for our relationships with each other.  It was just incredible to see how much all of our group could get along and how much fun we could all have with each other.  From climbing in trees to sleeping on the ground, from long sweaty hikes, to splashing in the water during creek soccer, it was good to be together and to see how our faith can unify us.

After returning from this amazing week with Jr.High students, I joined “the Way” for an awesome event of their own.  We swam, we played crazy games, we ate dinner, we swam some more and we worshipped God.  This time of worship was so sweet because it was great to see these young kids, eager to have fun with each other and unafraid to express their faith in wild and crazy ways.

The very next day, I was able to join the high school youth and members from the Easton group for a Mexico team reunion party.  We knew that something powerfull happened to us in Mexico and this was evident by the nearly 40 people who came back together to celebrate and remember.  Personally, I just want to say that other than the fellowship, my favorite part was the slushy machine.

All these events just overwhelmed me with the relationships that are sprouting and flourishing among the youth of our church, with each other, with me and our youth staff and with their God.  God is indeed blessing us in amazing ways and I scarcely have the words to express my gratitude.

If all of this wasn’t overwhelming enough, I came into the office this week to learn that our fundraising goal for our Youth Intern Positions had been met and exceeded for the entire rest of the 2008 year.  God’s grace simply amazes me.  What do you think?  Have you been amazed by grace?

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