Comedic Relief

So in the midst of all the seriousness at Winterfest... there were also some funny moments.

On the way down and several other times throughout the weekend we played the face game with our cameras! (general instructions-- in a well lit area put camera on burst mode, then rapidly move your face in all directions while holding down the shutter button, then enjoy the results.) These are some of my favorites:

Before each session you have to line up and wait for ages, and in years past when I was in high school, my group would plan to be the first ones there so we got good seats. But this group was great fun to be with. We'd get there a little early... but instead of trying to be first we set up a game of angry birds! (complete with bison and fish to go with the birds.) We passed out candy to others waiting, and just had a good time while we waited to go in.

This is a video of two of the boys from the group I was with:

 

Later that night two of the teen girls led the girls in a devotional, and one of them came up with this great illustration:

1. Go to the concordance in the back of your Bible.

2. Find the first letter of your name.

3. Pick a word that sticks out to you as important and applicable to your life.

And then we were going to share them with the group...

ANY letter... pick ANY letter except the one that starts mine and you'll find and abundance of great positive uplifting words to use! Mine? I got...

Abhor, Abominable, Abomination, Abyss, Accursed, Adulterous, Adversary, Agony, Alien, Alone, Ambush, Ancient, Angry, Anguish, Antichrist, Anxiety, and Armageddon... After we had a good laugh, I gave up and went with my middle name-sake word of Victory. haha.

Where does that leave them, then?

Have you ever gotten a reminder you didn't even know you needed?  Sometimes it isn't so fun, is it? Thankfully, when I got one this past weekend, it might have been a hard reminder, but it was definitely still a fun time!  This year, I was able to travel to Winterfest with one of groups I go to camp with up in Indiana.  At this particular camp, I am a counselor for the middle school girls' cabin... and three of my girls from this youth group were old enough to go on the trip! It was great to see everyone that I usually only see them at camp each summer. AND adding to that when I left last summer, we all thought I wouldn't see them for at least two or three years...

Anyway on Friday, I was sitting on the bus... we were somewhere in Kentucky and I turned around and saw this:

That's two of my girls. And THAT is the reminder I needed. You see, I had forgotten what it was like to be looked up to. The past several months I've been in a position that has expected me to look up to others.  I became almost complacent with my faith and walk.  I wasn't trying as hard... But this weekend, every hug, every smile, every time a hand or arm took mine, every time I turned around I had the reminder of why I should try.

Going one step further, our theme this year was "12" and all the lessons were on twelve spiritual disciplines that will help us grow in our faith. That was really cool, because it's something we often forget the teens can handle and at the same time for the adults need reminders of.... And as I sat listening (always next to at least one of my girls, sometimes two of them), I got not only the reminder that I need to be practicing these myself, but I was also getting another level added to my reminder of what it's like to be looked up to.  If these girls, and others I come into contact with are looking up to me... I'm going to be one of those people they learn these disciplines from. I'm going to be one of the people they look to for guidance when its hard to remember the value of these disciplines. And if I haven't practiced them, if I haven't been working on them myself, if I'm not constantly working to become better.... where does that leave them? If none of us have practiced them, if we haven't been working on them, if we're not constantly working to become better.... where does that leave the younger generation?

Culture and Faith

The 2011 AIM class just got back from the annual Mexico trip.  A good portion of them (my dear friends... I started with this class but had to leave early) commented upon their return about how eye-opening it was, and how much more they appreciate other cultures now... That was an eye-opening reminder for me.

I often forget that most people have to be taught to appreciate other cultures.  I take it for granted sometimes that I grew up in family that had two cultures. I actually sometimes forget this, haha. For real, being surrounded by other cultures is something that is just normal to me.  Those in that situation or with a family member with disabilities can more than likely relate to this.  It's like my mom's wheelchair... I grew up with it around, and often don't think about it as being different, because when you're exposed (to anything really) from a young age it becomes a normal part of life.  As much as I wish I could say I do... I don't speak the same language as my grandparents.  So even a language barrier seems normal to me.  But for others that didn't grow up around it, it's harder.  It's easy to fall into a trap for thinking I have a lot to teach them and they have a lot to learn, but forget that we have just as much to learn from them. We can fall into the trap of stereotyping others and forgetting that there is so much we can learn out of this world.

But change this up. Think about it from a faith perspective... those of us that grew up going to church, and grew up as Christians can often forget and take it for granted. It becomes ingrained in us and become normal... and just like I don't have to try to appreciate other cultures, we can forget with our faith that we always have to be trying.  That even if it comes easily, we still need to constantly be trying. We should never fall into the trap of "I have nothing more I can learn from this." because like with cultures... that's where the problems start. We can fall into the trap of our faith suffering because we think we know whats best when the reality is we still have so much to learn.