this past weekend i had an amazing opportunity to serve at the Cobb County FCA Leader Retreat in Georgia. let me tell you that God blew me out of the water.
i actually began this adventure a week prior to arriving at beautiful Berry College (where the deer to student ratio is 8:1, yeah i know, crazy). i began praying intently for the things that were going to be taking place and it is so neat to see the Lord work in me even upon arrival. i just knew that it was going to be an amazing weekend.
my friend Laura Register is actually the one who invited me to serve with them this particular weekend. i was asking her questions about what the weekend would entail and she told me to expect for the kids to be a great example of the "Gimme" generation. these kids had it all. well not all of them, but most of them. she said that they would complain about it being cold and how much they wanted to use their cellular devices. so we coined the term for everything this weekend "Im cold and I need my cell phone." as funny as it may seem, it was actually true.
so i arrived on campus and met up with all of the other huddle leaders for a quick get to know you session and run down of how the weekend was going to go. all of these people knew each other in some way form or fashion, so i was pretty much the new guy. so, i took it upon myself to not make the situation awkward and jumped right in the group. i shared my testimony and it was humbling to say the least. i havent really done that in a long time, and was good to remind myself where the Lord has brought me. we collectively prayed over the weekend, and were dismissed. we moved to our cabins and waited for the kids to arrive.
These are some of the cabins that we stayed in. Amazing get away atmosphere!
well the first two kids in my cabin arrived around 6:00 and that was about it until we all went back to the cabin at 10:00. it was kinda awkward at first because these two kids didnt know how to respond to me and my awkwardness. but i tried to make small talk with them, and i finally figured out that for me to get to understand these middle school boys is to become...well... like a middle school boy. so we poked fun at each other and i made a fool of myself. needless to say that it kinda worked and before i knew it they were talking to me. score one point for me.
we went through worship and had our first session. we were then dismissed to go and have huddle time with our groups. this was basically a bible study, but on this particular night it was for us to get to know our guys. it was fun watching these kids interact with one another, especially since they didnt know each person from the next. we played a few games that i had up my sleeve (snort and look down, look up) they were a hit and we had some good laughs. after that we discussed what was gonna go down and we kinda settled in for the night. and by no means am i telling the truth. lights were out at 11:30 like they were supposed to be, but they didnt stop talking until around 1:30. that was wonderful, but expected. regardless we were gonna get up at 7:00 am as planned.
so i get up at around 6:15 to take a shower and pray (and i couldnt remember the last time i was up for a sunrise but it was neat), but something unexpected, yet very interesting happened. one of the kids was quick to follow me. his name is jack. now i didnt know it at this point in time, but this kid would have the rest of the weekend covered in prayer for him. i prayed for all my kids, dont get me wrong, but the Lord really grabbed my attention on this one....but anyways i get everyone up at 7:00 as planned (it was really 6:52, but who's counting) and we get moving. well our day began with our ceiling caving in on us. yeah, fun times. one of the boys decided to shut a door very gently and sure enough that caused the roof to give ever so slightly. so with insulation everywhere and the light fixture hanging from the ceiling, we got to repack and move to a different location.
You cant tell, but the whole roof is sagging in. Insulation was everywhere!
well the day progresses and we do all sorts of things. we had our morning work outs, quiet time, breakfast, worship, and competition. this is where i will stop in the day to discuss the lovely events of competition. now i will go ahead and tell you that Cobb County is a basketball/baseball hub of sports. and thats about it. but we didnt play baseball, we played soccer, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, and we had to throw in a people pleaser, so we played basketball. it was so fun watching the kids have fun at things they werent use to playing. specifically soccer. i could have easily taken all 11 of my kids down single handedly. but i enjoyed giving them pointers and being a coach again. this is when they started calling me "Coach Daniel" for the rest of the weekend. yeah, it brought me joy, what can i say.
We had such an awesome time playing. Laura dominated in bball and of course I rocked the soccer field!
well after that we went to lunch. now ill pick back up on where i left off with jack. up to this point he had been very aware of my surroundings. not that he followed me around, but i noticed he knew where i was at all times. he would listen to me, even if it didnt make sense. he was very intrigued in what i had to say. now this is when it hit me. he was like one of Jesus' disciples. they were men who hung on Jesus' every word. they followed him wherever he went and tried their best to listen and obey. it was such a simple truth to be revealed. it reminded me of the desire i should have in my own life to follow Christ with the child-like wonder the Jack was displaying. and i knew from that God had some great things in store for jack, but i wasnt quite aware yet, so i continued to listen.
we went through the rest of the afternoon sessions and free time. we all hung out for a while but i finally got a chance to catch up with jack and talk one-on-one. after some guidance from the Lord i discussed with jack the calling the Lord has placed on his life. jack is a natural born leader, and his happy, fun, loving attitude is contagious. now ironically, we were there for a leadership retreat, but like most of us know, as a leader you must learn to follow as well. jack wants to follow. i could see it in his eyes. and i could see the desire of the Lord and his wanting to consume this little 8th grade boys life. i told him that God had great plans in store for him, but he just needed to trust him. i asked him if it was worth it following Christ, and if he had counted the cost. (check here for the details of that discussion). little did i know that this exact same discussion would be held with the rest of the group later in the night.
Me and some of the boys. Jack is the one in the red jacket. Good kids!
we go to dinner, and jack served me. he got my food and saved me a seat next to him. this kid was blowing my mind. well we all eat and the go over to have some worship time. now this particular night of worship was very special. an experience that i had missed having. we sang our little hearts out in praise to our God, and the we listened to our speaker. i knew that the Lord was gonna rock out the evening and i was ready for what He was going to do. the speaker finished up his sermon and gave an invitation. let me tell you the response time was amazing. there were several kids who made a profession of faith. and then he asked the kids to hit their knees in prayer. wow. talk about a beautiful sight. 120 kids on their knees crying out to their Father. so amazing.
Worship!!
we dismiss into our huddle time and we were real with each other. we discussed what it meant to follow Christ. and how sometimes we dont show it. we talked about some of the things that hold us back from sacrificing our whole lives to Christ. and then i had them write those down. we walked down to the fire pit and threw those things in. and we joyfully talked about what Christ did for us on the cross. then we prayed. all of us. it was such a special time. a much needed time. for all of us.
after we finished praying it was snack time before our bonfire time. we all went in to the dining hall and went about our business as normal, but then it hit like wildfire. the huddle leaders began dancing to the music playing. it happened so fast, and the next thing we knew we had everyone dancing and doing the electric slide and such. two of my kids even performed the whole thriller dance for us. i was very impressed.
This was the best dance party I have had in a while!
the night closes out with some awesome confession/testimonial time at the bonfire, and then we all went back to the cabins for the night. all my kids were out by 12 except for 5 of them. those 5 sat beside my bed and we talked. good times were had with a few laughs and we called it a night.
the same pattern occurred from the previous night (aside from the roof caving in) and we dismissed at 11:00. but here is where it gets fun. before my boys left, i had a great time praying with each of them. i challenged them to step up in their faith and never settle for anything. i dismissed them, and was so refreshed from the blessing that all 11 of them were to me.
final challenge of the weekend: "When you got it, you got it. Now GO and live it."
no i dont know if i will ever run in to them again, but im fully aware of the things the Lord did in their hearts this past weekend, and i will continually pray for each of them and their journey's as they walk with the Lord.
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