9. Sheets. Christian Ladd was a blessing to have on the trip. He is definitely one of the hardest workers of any of us. Besides appreciating his energy and diligence, I really enjoyed his cheerful attitude. Some of the funniest memories made on the trip (in my opinion) were jokes made by Sheets. For example, on the ride up to Fort, the four guys were sitting in the back seat. Colton, Sam, and Christian had joined together to beat up Evan. In one of the few quiet moments, Evan gasped out: “I need some air!” Christian replied: “I don’t give air…….I give……DEATH!!”
8. Stars. On Friday night, after we broke off into small groups and prayed, Todd Kellner led us on a walk to the beach. Standing out on the dock, we looked up at the stars as Dan read from Genesis 1 about the day when God created them. One day. All that huge, immeasurable expanse, and my God did it in one day.
7. Rowing. On Saturday, our group had to move all the oars, life-jackets, and beach toys from Fort’s beach area to a small boat shack. The shack was a bit of a walk from the beach, and the path was narrow and hard to navigate while carrying heavy objects. Todd Kellner had the bright idea to load up one of Fort’s rowboats with beach stuff and row along the shore to the boathouse instead of walking down the path. Despite common consensus that he didn’t know what he was doing, his plan was a success. I hopped on Cap’n TK’s ship for the ride back from the boat house and he let me row the ship back to shore for the second trip. It was fun learning how to row from a pro.
6. Isaiah 55. For this weekend, there couldn’t have been a better passage to focus in on. Each morning, we all spent time praying through and meditating on the chapter. Hearing later from different people about what they had learned from the passage helped to further cement these truths in my heart:
-Jesus is THE ONLY source of true joy
-Jesus is THE ONLY source of true joy
-Seeking the Lord through His word is the path to freedom from a discontented life
-God is not only infinitely greater than us, but compassionate to forgive and pardon
-God’s word will never return void—not only when it is shared with unbelievers, but when it is placed in my own ever-sinful heart
5. Luann Purdy. I can’t tell you how thankful I am that Luann came along as a leader to us girls. The longer I know her, the more I appreciate her level-headed, genuine love for the Lord. The trip would not have been the same if Luann didn’t come along. Her easygoing and affirming attitude is exactly right for serving in a group setting. Besides this, she spurred me on towards godliness and deeper thinking about who God is. Her thoughts about fighting sin were refreshing, challenging, and encouraging to me—exactly what God knew I needed to hear for my own battle.
4. Waking up. On service projects, the little sleep that you get is precious. At 6:30 on Saturday morning, I was dead to the world. Katelyn and I agreed she would wake me up at this time—but she wasn’t sure if I was in my bed. She climbed the ladder to my top bunk and, instead of patting around softly to find out if I was there, dropped her hand nice and hard so it landed with a startling thud in the middle of my rib-cage. I’ve never gone from dead slumber to gasping awakeness in that short of a time!
3. Dan. I am so thankful that this trip took place under the leadership of our youth pastor, Dan Miller. To us as students, Dan is an example worth imitating. He is a hard worker who spends his time caring for other people rather than complaining about what he has to do. His attitude is contagious, making it a joy to work with him. Besides this, and most importantly, Dan gave the trip a spiritual focus. I was personally blessed by time spent praying with him, and talking about Jesus’ work in our hearts.
2. The girls. I don’t thank God enough for the young women of my youth group. I am so thankful that I belong to such a sweet, growing set of people. Time spent together as girls this weekend was something to enjoy, hardly tainted at all by complaints or crankiness about the hard work. We had a great talk on Sunday morning (led by Luann) that was like a breath of fresh air for me. We discussed together, constructively, what we would like to see in our youth group in the near future. It wasn’t a complain-fest, like “changing the youth group” conversations often are. Instead, I heard the girls express a passion for reaching out to others, and for personally growing closer to Christ. Especially encouraging was my friend Katelyn Ladd. She is a senior this year, and our youth group is blessed to have such a Christ-centered girl as one of its “leaders.”
1. Repentance. I know that weekends like this one are not all about what I get out of them as an individual. Yet what God did in my own heart was really the highlight of this trip for me. God was gracious enough to reveal some sin to me that needed to be dealt with. He didn’t just show me my own failings, though. He gave me a hope-giving passage from His word to study, He put me with godly believers to talk about my struggles with, and He made my heart soft enough to embrace true repentance and the freedom that comes with it. It’s hard, it’s sad, and it’s exhausting, but there is true joy when God sets you free.
Project serve is the best. Love your list.
ReplyDeletevery encouraging.
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