Winterfest 2006

We're home safe and sound. Whew! Thank you God! And thank you, Gus and Joe! This year we took two charter buses and Gus and Joe were our drivers. (We had a lot of fun with Gus. His nametag read G.S. so I nicknamed him Gus. We kept singing to him "50 ways to Leave Your Driver" as we stepped off the bus, Gus. Maybe you had to be there.) It was so relaxing and fun to ride the buses together. We all felt safe and comfortable. There was that one moment on our way to lunch yesterday as we were taking the exit off the freeway when a tiny little car zipped in between our buses and Gus had to brake rather quickly that made us all very nervous in bus #2, but other than that it was a relatively uneventful bus ride.

Winterfest, for those of you who don't know, is a Church of Christ sponsored event for youth in grades 6-12. It's the only time our entire youth group participates in something all together. It's amazing to see all these kids interacting with each other and getting along so well. Granted, there were probably more middle schoolers on the trip than high schoolers, but we were competing with Winter Formal and basketball. There were at least 2000 kids there and I'm estimating conservatively.

When we left on Friday I had a high sense of expectation and the feeling that I was about to witness a miracle. I have a friend who says that expectations are premeditated resentments. That may be true to some extent when you're talking about people, but there is something about a divine sense of expectation when I'm going into a situation that has been so prayed over that gives me great hope. I'm not sure what I'm trying to say here except that God doesn't disappoint me. If you look around, you'll see His hand on most everything. And this weekend I was not disappointed.

Anytime I see kids standing together singing praises to the King of Kings, I'm not disappointed. Everytime I see kids huddled together in a mound comforting each other or even comforting one, I'm overcome with love for them. As I watch new relationships form and old relationships deepen (in the kids and adults), I am filled with awe and wonder at how our Lord works in our hearts. When I see kids buying up t-shirts with slogans like "Satan Stinks", I have great hope. Watching kids crowd surfing to "Jesus Freak" sung by Tait in concert, makes me happy. When I see extremely exhausted kids after a weekend of fun and excitement and tears and laughter crowd around the highway marker where one of their own lost his life and gained his freedom and I watch their faces as scripture is being read about the love of God and how we trust in Him and try not to understand, then watch them walk the perimeter and remember and grieve and finally reboard the bus smiling knowingly; and when I feel the peace on the bus the last 30 minutes of the ride home, then I am filled to overflowing with the love of our Father and I am amazed at how relatively little it takes for God to bring about a miracle.

Two buses + two drivers + 90 some teens + 2 youth ministers + 11 adults + tons of snacks + one hotel with very willing staff + one huge room + hours of preparation = at least 103 individual miracles of love

I stand amazed and I'm filled with wonder.