This weekend, I went to Grace Adventure's Winter Blast for middle school students. It was great!First of all, thanks to all who prayed for my job at Grace because on Friday night Ben took me aside and offered me a job.
It's cool to see how God uses circumstances for the better. I really wanted to go with our youth group to Camp Barakel this past weekend, but it ended up not working out. At first I was really bummed out about not spending time with my brother and all of his friends, but I think it was better all around for me to go to the Grace retreat instead. For one, I got more experience working with kids I didn't know, and I also got nuggets of wisdom on being a counselor at Grace.
The youth group I hosted for the weekend was from Hart United Methodist Church. There were six kids and one leader: Tyler, Paul, Ellery, Mercedes, Rachel, Kaylee, and Mrs. Hammerle. Since they didn't have a male leader, I stayed with their guys and sat in on their small group discussions. (Also, most of Saturday, Mrs. Hammerle was gone because she was playing the piano at the Solo and Ensemble festival, so a different volunteer came up for most of the day). I did the normal hosting duties of answering questions and meeting needs, but I also had the chance to just be there and listen to the guys in place of a guy from their church. One of the kids had a hard time opening up, but on Saturday night, he just started talking about everything tough that had been going on in his life. I tried my best to show him God's love and to ease his hurt. He ended up being more flexible and open for the rest of the time, and it was really cool to see how God worked in him. I also got the chance to teach them mafia before lights out on Saturday. They all loved it, and it really helped them build relationships within their group. It was tough to see them go on Sunday because even though we barely spent 2 days together, I'd grown attached to all of them as if I'd had them for a week. Please pray for the entire group that they'd stick to commitments they made.
Another cool God-thing was how I got the chance to talk with Brian during free time on Saturday. Brian's been a counselor at Grace for the past 2 years, so he was able to pass on little bits of advice and things he'd learned about the campers.
Looking back I'd say that even though I really wanted to go to Barakel with the youth group, I wouldn't have had it any other way.
2 comments:
It is interesting how "circumstances" changed your plans and you ended up at Grace.
God's ways are not always our ways.
Could it have been God's plan for you not to go to the retreat with Calvary.
God is in complete control ! ! !
Always remain flexible enough and open enough to see if your disappointments are actually God closing doors to force you into the direction He wants you to go.
You are a great son.
I love you and am proud of you.
-dad
Wow! What an incredible weekend you had! Isn't God amazing? He continues to surprise us with all the little "God Moments" He places in our lives. This weekend was a MAJOR God Moment for you. I'm so happy for you! You are going to have an awesome experience this summer. I'm so glad you're following God's directions. You've been doing a great job impacting the lives of your middle school group and now you get to impact even more lives this summer. I can't wait to see where God leads you next! Talk to you later. ; )
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