merge

What an amazing and exhausting week. As most of you know, I have been working over the past few months for an organization called Sonlife Ministries. For the past two months, I have lived on their campus in Elburn, Illinois during the week, and living at home on the weekends. Basically, it has felt like I have been living out of a suitcase for two months - which is both exciting and draining at the same time. However, this past week was what all the effort was for. I just spent the past week with 450 high school students and youth workers, and it was great!

The week was called Merge - and it was a conference where students and leaders were encouraged to merge with the redemptive story of God. Now, I realize that's a mouthful. But bascially, it was all about re-learning the story of God (from the creation of the world to the church in the book of Acts) and learning to connect those stories with our own lives today. Students were challenged to see how their story connects with the stories of both the Old and New Testament, and how God is still at work in their lives today, allowing them to be a part of God's story as well. It was a new way of approaching Biblical teaching and learning, and the students seemed REALLY responsive to it. It was an awesome week of challenges, growth, and exploration. I don't think I've ever worked as hard has I did this past week, and I'm incredibly exhausted, but it was well worth it.

As I look to the future - currently unemployed and not sure what's next, I can't help but be encouraged by the things I learned this past week. I learned that I am an important part of God's story. As one student pointed out through the story of Noah, God can use one person's faith to change the world. Because of Noah's great faith in God, God spared humanity and re-populated the earth because of him. Because of one man's faith, we are all here today. What a brilliant and encouraging thought. So while I'm a little scared to step into the next few weeks, I am encouraged by one student's faith in an idea that God can use any individual to change (or in the case of Noah, recreate) the world.

I feel totally honored to have been a part of Merge, and to have taken part in the things that happened there. I was so encouarged by the students who were attending and the staff I worked alongside. I'm so unbelievably happy to be home, but I wouldn't have wanted to miss this past week for anything!