When you see Rockbridge for the first time, it blows your mind. I remember thinking of what Young Life camp was going to be when I went for the first time in high school, and it was nothing like what I pictured. Rockbridge is a camp specifically designed for high school kids. It takes everything into consideration and defines excellence. It should be called a Young Life resort. We got there and our kids spilled out of the bus and got settled in their rooms before Ben and I took the guys and wandered around camp.
The next 36 hours are a blur. I wish I could detail for you everything that went on. As I look back a few weeks, and many big events later, there are a few big things that stick out; the first is club. Many of the kids we took had no idea what club was even about. They had never seen a club and when they asked us what Young Life was all about we told them to wait and see. They were blown away. We were lucky enough to be a part of one of the biggest Fall Weekends Rockbridge had ever hosted. Every bit of the club room was packed out. The look on their faces to see 700 other kids go nuts and sing Taylor Swift songs or cheer for games or laugh at program characters was priceless. By the end of our first club we had the privilege to hear for Cliff Wright.
Cliff is an area director in Fredericksburg. I can't guarantee I'm spelling that right. Cliff is a very, very passionate person when it comes to talking about Jesus. You can tell he is walking with Christ in a way that a lot of people aren't. It draws you in and makes you want to know what is different about him. A lot of our guys loved him right off the bat. One turned to me and said "I want to be that when I grow up". I'm not sure if any of them truly realized why Cliff was different but I hope that they will.
We got to have cabin time both nights we were there, where the goal is to just kick back and get real with the guys. It is where a lot of conversation happens and high school guys who rarely talk about real stuff open up. For us that meant getting to known one another. Coming in Ben and I didn't know all of the guys, and didn't know hardly any of them on a deep level. We got to talk about life, Jesus, Cliff's talk, etc. What I hoped would go at least 20 minutes ended up going over an hour and a half. By the time we looked at the clock again it was 2 a.m.
By the end of the weekend nobody wanted to leave. We had a quick area meeting sharing the vision for what club could be coming back to Franklin which a lot of kids were stoked about. The bus on the way home was a whole different story. We were all comfortable with one another talking like old friends. We talked about going back to camp in the summer and what club could look like. We arrived home tired but satisfied. It had been a good, good weekend.
As I look back on it there were a lot of victories for us. We got to see the spiritual landscape of kids in Franklin County. Most all of them have been exposed to the Gospel to some degree, most of them even go to church. However, they long for more. They understand that the way Cliff spoke about Jesus was different than they saw him, it was intimate, real, deep. They want that. It will be incredible for us to find out how to bridge that gap from wanting to living. As we move forward, we are more excited than ever.
The last four blogs have been a bit off the norm! For that I'm sorry, and I'm also sorry they're a bit late. Its been a wild time for us and for myself personally. As the new year comes and I have more time again to be consistent I hope to update every Tuesday on what is going on and how you guys can be praying for. I thank you for supporting us in prayer, we desperately need it. We love you so much!
More updates soon.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Fall Weekend pt. 1
I don't even know where to begin. Fall Weekend was wild, exhausting, fun, intense and left us with a ton of vision and momentum about our next steps with Young Life in Franklin County. When all was said and done we ended up with a total of 28 people from FranCo signed up for Rockbridge. This was my first Fall Weekend taking kids to camp so I was hoping that all my ducks were in a row. The biggest question mark that came together at the last second was the bus.
Originally we didn't think that we would need a bus. It was our first year taking kids, and a few places that we asked were out of our price range. I figured with 4 leaders we could take a couple cars of kids with us driving. That was before we had twenty kids sign up in two days. We then realized we needed to find a bus. Luckily at the 11th hour we found a bus, our own driver for the bus and were approved with the insurance the day of Fall Weekend. The last step was to get the bus to the YMCA parking lot where we were to meet kids at 6:30. And then the bus wouldn't start.
We spent a half an hour trying to figure out what the heck to do. The bus was in one parking lot, the kids were in another and it was freezing outside. As the minutes ticked on half of our leaders and committee were at the bus with our driver trying to figure out what was wrong while the other half hung out with kids and tried to reassure parents who probably wondered if we knew what we were doing. Just as we decided to pack into cars with our leaders and committee driving, the problem was found. In a school bus all of the emergency exits must be perfectly locked AND the driver seatbelt must be on. We now know this.
Finally, 45 minutes late, the bus rolled around the corner to cheers from kids and parents alike. Undeterred we clambered on the bus, made a quick headcount and checked for health forms, and started our journey to the greatest place on Earth; Rockbridge.
Word of mouth spread pretty quick in Franklin so many kids that we didn't know previously made the trip. Kerry and Becca had never met 95% of the girls on the bus while I only knew about half of the guys. Ben was taking a late car down with our three varsity basketball players, a cheerleader and her good friend Jill. The bus ride became a rallying point. We made Franklin County chants, did our best to get on the phone line with Delilah, our favorite radio show host, and ate countless cookies provided by our committee and parents.
My favorite part was that most of the kids had no idea what Young Life even was. They were there simply on somebodies word that it was going to be the best weekend of there life. A certain guy was introduced to me by Alan Janney, a teacher at FCHS, who said he should go. He walked into the room, was introduced to me, Mr. Janney told him he should go to the weekend and he looked at me and said, "You think I should go?"Having just met him I said "I guarantee it'll be the best weekend of your life." He turned his form in the very next day. On the way up the kids asked a million questions just wanting to know what it would look like so we continued to be cryptic not wanting to ruin any surprises.
Finally we rolled into the gates of Rockbridge and pulled up to the entrance tent as the kids marveled through the windows of the place we had just arrived at. We had made it.
To be continued . . . Sorry, but I'm in the yearbook classroom and I have to leave! But I'll try to finish this story soon!
Originally we didn't think that we would need a bus. It was our first year taking kids, and a few places that we asked were out of our price range. I figured with 4 leaders we could take a couple cars of kids with us driving. That was before we had twenty kids sign up in two days. We then realized we needed to find a bus. Luckily at the 11th hour we found a bus, our own driver for the bus and were approved with the insurance the day of Fall Weekend. The last step was to get the bus to the YMCA parking lot where we were to meet kids at 6:30. And then the bus wouldn't start.
We spent a half an hour trying to figure out what the heck to do. The bus was in one parking lot, the kids were in another and it was freezing outside. As the minutes ticked on half of our leaders and committee were at the bus with our driver trying to figure out what was wrong while the other half hung out with kids and tried to reassure parents who probably wondered if we knew what we were doing. Just as we decided to pack into cars with our leaders and committee driving, the problem was found. In a school bus all of the emergency exits must be perfectly locked AND the driver seatbelt must be on. We now know this.
Finally, 45 minutes late, the bus rolled around the corner to cheers from kids and parents alike. Undeterred we clambered on the bus, made a quick headcount and checked for health forms, and started our journey to the greatest place on Earth; Rockbridge.
Word of mouth spread pretty quick in Franklin so many kids that we didn't know previously made the trip. Kerry and Becca had never met 95% of the girls on the bus while I only knew about half of the guys. Ben was taking a late car down with our three varsity basketball players, a cheerleader and her good friend Jill. The bus ride became a rallying point. We made Franklin County chants, did our best to get on the phone line with Delilah, our favorite radio show host, and ate countless cookies provided by our committee and parents.
My favorite part was that most of the kids had no idea what Young Life even was. They were there simply on somebodies word that it was going to be the best weekend of there life. A certain guy was introduced to me by Alan Janney, a teacher at FCHS, who said he should go. He walked into the room, was introduced to me, Mr. Janney told him he should go to the weekend and he looked at me and said, "You think I should go?"Having just met him I said "I guarantee it'll be the best weekend of your life." He turned his form in the very next day. On the way up the kids asked a million questions just wanting to know what it would look like so we continued to be cryptic not wanting to ruin any surprises.
Finally we rolled into the gates of Rockbridge and pulled up to the entrance tent as the kids marveled through the windows of the place we had just arrived at. We had made it.
To be continued . . . Sorry, but I'm in the yearbook classroom and I have to leave! But I'll try to finish this story soon!
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
The Engagement Part II
I picked her up around 1:30 and was calmer than I expected to be. We headed out to get something to eat and I suggested Panera, a place I knew she loved and a place I knew would by light on my nervous stomach. I insisted we go to the Christiansburg Panera, rather than the one much closer in Blacksburg, saying that it was better, but really I just wanted to buy some time. Usually I'm a very quick eater but I took my time while intermittently checking my phone making sure that all parties were on the same page. Luckily Becca thought that I was checking the score of the Tech game. Finally she noted that we had been at Panera forever, so I began our tour of Christiansburg.
I really had no idea where to take her. Most of the places I could think of we had already been. So I told her since we'd been to those places at night I wanted to show them to her in the day time. Seriously, I was stretching for everything. We went to the house I grew up in, a bridge my dad used to take me, the new house my brother and his wife bought, and my brother's sister-in-law's house. I was desperate. I told Brendan we would be there at 4, so finally at 3:35 we headed back for Blacksburg.
When Becca and I first started hanging out we had a few run-ins with the police. It started on our first date when I got pulled over for my tags being expired. It was then that Becca told me how much she HATED being pulled over. I've never known someone who hated run-ins with the cops so much. The next two times we hung out after our first date we also got pulled over; three times in the first week of us hanging out. I finally got my tags changed knowing that if I got pulled over again with her in the car she would probably never drive with me again.
This is important because of what happened on the ride back. As previously stated it was the day of the Tech vs. UVA football game, a game that VT traditionally wins regardless of how terrible a season they are having. Becca said at one point that if UVA won it would be the worst day ever. While I knew she was joking, I desperately wanted Tech to win. As the Hokies drove down with the final seconds ticking away and the score tied up they took a time out to set up the field goal with four seconds left as we listened on the radio. It was then I noticed the police car behind me with it's lights on. The problem? My tags were expired. I love when things come full circle.
So as the officer wrote me a ticket we listened to the Hokies kick the game winning field goal before finishing things with the cop. We then FINALLY made our final push towards the Chapel. Now, Becca didn't know that was where we were going. But I knew if I hinted enough about me playing piano for her she would ask me too, and in that case there was only one place I could take her with a piano; the Chapel. So I hinted, she asked, and away we went. We parked in an illegal spot but as we walked into the Chapel I dropped the keys outside the door so our friend Ben could move it without her noticing. Together we walked in.
The trick for me was to set up the Chapel in a way that it was decorated, but not obvious. I told her they must have put up their Christmas decorations. We walked over to the piano and I told her that we'd never sang a song together and I wanted to sing. I played the song Give Me Jesus while we sang which was a really cool experience. I kept my eye on Brendan who was well hidden, but stuck out enough if you were looking for him. I finished the song and became instantly aware I had no idea how I was going to transition to the little speech I had planned, so I just dove into it.
As is my custom I started pacing as I told her what I'd been learning about marriage. She hadn't noticed that my Bible was sitting on the alter and so I went over and grabbed it as she followed me over.
Becca and I started dating on April 29th, 2011 and one day I got bored and looked up all the 4:29s in the Bible. I came across Deuteronomy 4:29 which is "From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul." That became the basis of our relationship for me and we often referred to it. The purpose of anything is to draw us closer to the Lord; especially a romantic relationship. God didn't make marriage so that we could just enjoy another person, but so that we could better understand who He is. It's a wild concept that I've been learning about for the past year and a half now.
In asking Becca to marry me I was asking her to chase after the Lord with me for the rest of our lives together. My Bible has fallen apart and even is in two pieces now right where Deuteronomy 4:29 is (due to the fact that I kept all the letters Becca sent me there) and so that is where I put the ring. As I talked to her I grabbed my Bible and asked her what Deuteronomy 4:29 said. As she started to say it she looked around and caught sight of Brendan.
That was the moment she realized what was going on. I knew she was suspicious at different parts of the day but once she saw him every doubt was erased. This was the moment she'd been waiting for. Her eyes started tearing up at she looked back and me and her hands started to shake. I grabbed them as I pulled the ring our of my Bible and dropped down to one knee. I honestly can't even remember the words that I used at the point but the gist was that I wanted to spend the rest of my life running after Jesus together.
There should be a class for things that guys don't know about engagements. One of those things I didn't know was which hand to put the ring on. After reaching for the wrong one she gently placed the right one in my hands and I slipped on the ring that had been burning a whole in my pocked for the month prior on to her finger. Then that was it! We were engaged. She hugged me and didn't let go for what felt like forever. Brendan took a few pictures more and then snuck our without a word leaving us to sit by the alter and take in everything that had happened. I finally got to tell her all the things I'd been hiding from her over the past few months trying to make the engagement a surprise.
After we had time to talk we called our families to meet us there and got to spend some time before heading to our engagement party. A crazy amount of our friends showed up and we got to spend the night celebrating the big, big things that Jesus lets us enjoy. And now I get to tell the world that we are happily engaged! I've wanted to do that for a long, long time. I told my mom a week after we started dating that she was the one I was going to marry. I spent the next year and half convincing her of that!
I want to thank everyone who made the day ridiculously special. Our families for supporting us, Brendan for taking pictures, Katie Meehan for planning the party and Hypes for making some ridiculously delicious food and all our friends that were able to make it.
I hope that as you read this that you walk away with a clearer picture of who the Lord is and what His role is in relationships I don't post this blog so that every girl who reads it will cry and think how sweet everything is. I post it because before Becca I had no idea what a Christ-centered relationship should look like and maybe this gives you a better picture. And now we get to start our ministry together in Franklin County soon! Big, big things.
I really had no idea where to take her. Most of the places I could think of we had already been. So I told her since we'd been to those places at night I wanted to show them to her in the day time. Seriously, I was stretching for everything. We went to the house I grew up in, a bridge my dad used to take me, the new house my brother and his wife bought, and my brother's sister-in-law's house. I was desperate. I told Brendan we would be there at 4, so finally at 3:35 we headed back for Blacksburg.
When Becca and I first started hanging out we had a few run-ins with the police. It started on our first date when I got pulled over for my tags being expired. It was then that Becca told me how much she HATED being pulled over. I've never known someone who hated run-ins with the cops so much. The next two times we hung out after our first date we also got pulled over; three times in the first week of us hanging out. I finally got my tags changed knowing that if I got pulled over again with her in the car she would probably never drive with me again.
This is important because of what happened on the ride back. As previously stated it was the day of the Tech vs. UVA football game, a game that VT traditionally wins regardless of how terrible a season they are having. Becca said at one point that if UVA won it would be the worst day ever. While I knew she was joking, I desperately wanted Tech to win. As the Hokies drove down with the final seconds ticking away and the score tied up they took a time out to set up the field goal with four seconds left as we listened on the radio. It was then I noticed the police car behind me with it's lights on. The problem? My tags were expired. I love when things come full circle.
So as the officer wrote me a ticket we listened to the Hokies kick the game winning field goal before finishing things with the cop. We then FINALLY made our final push towards the Chapel. Now, Becca didn't know that was where we were going. But I knew if I hinted enough about me playing piano for her she would ask me too, and in that case there was only one place I could take her with a piano; the Chapel. So I hinted, she asked, and away we went. We parked in an illegal spot but as we walked into the Chapel I dropped the keys outside the door so our friend Ben could move it without her noticing. Together we walked in.
The trick for me was to set up the Chapel in a way that it was decorated, but not obvious. I told her they must have put up their Christmas decorations. We walked over to the piano and I told her that we'd never sang a song together and I wanted to sing. I played the song Give Me Jesus while we sang which was a really cool experience. I kept my eye on Brendan who was well hidden, but stuck out enough if you were looking for him. I finished the song and became instantly aware I had no idea how I was going to transition to the little speech I had planned, so I just dove into it.
As is my custom I started pacing as I told her what I'd been learning about marriage. She hadn't noticed that my Bible was sitting on the alter and so I went over and grabbed it as she followed me over.
Becca and I started dating on April 29th, 2011 and one day I got bored and looked up all the 4:29s in the Bible. I came across Deuteronomy 4:29 which is "From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul." That became the basis of our relationship for me and we often referred to it. The purpose of anything is to draw us closer to the Lord; especially a romantic relationship. God didn't make marriage so that we could just enjoy another person, but so that we could better understand who He is. It's a wild concept that I've been learning about for the past year and a half now.
In asking Becca to marry me I was asking her to chase after the Lord with me for the rest of our lives together. My Bible has fallen apart and even is in two pieces now right where Deuteronomy 4:29 is (due to the fact that I kept all the letters Becca sent me there) and so that is where I put the ring. As I talked to her I grabbed my Bible and asked her what Deuteronomy 4:29 said. As she started to say it she looked around and caught sight of Brendan.
That was the moment she realized what was going on. I knew she was suspicious at different parts of the day but once she saw him every doubt was erased. This was the moment she'd been waiting for. Her eyes started tearing up at she looked back and me and her hands started to shake. I grabbed them as I pulled the ring our of my Bible and dropped down to one knee. I honestly can't even remember the words that I used at the point but the gist was that I wanted to spend the rest of my life running after Jesus together.
There should be a class for things that guys don't know about engagements. One of those things I didn't know was which hand to put the ring on. After reaching for the wrong one she gently placed the right one in my hands and I slipped on the ring that had been burning a whole in my pocked for the month prior on to her finger. Then that was it! We were engaged. She hugged me and didn't let go for what felt like forever. Brendan took a few pictures more and then snuck our without a word leaving us to sit by the alter and take in everything that had happened. I finally got to tell her all the things I'd been hiding from her over the past few months trying to make the engagement a surprise.
After we had time to talk we called our families to meet us there and got to spend some time before heading to our engagement party. A crazy amount of our friends showed up and we got to spend the night celebrating the big, big things that Jesus lets us enjoy. And now I get to tell the world that we are happily engaged! I've wanted to do that for a long, long time. I told my mom a week after we started dating that she was the one I was going to marry. I spent the next year and half convincing her of that!
I want to thank everyone who made the day ridiculously special. Our families for supporting us, Brendan for taking pictures, Katie Meehan for planning the party and Hypes for making some ridiculously delicious food and all our friends that were able to make it.
I hope that as you read this that you walk away with a clearer picture of who the Lord is and what His role is in relationships I don't post this blog so that every girl who reads it will cry and think how sweet everything is. I post it because before Becca I had no idea what a Christ-centered relationship should look like and maybe this gives you a better picture. And now we get to start our ministry together in Franklin County soon! Big, big things.
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