Our Young Life leadership team gathered downtown this weekend for 24 hours of retreat together. It was such a gift to get to be together for conversation and prayer and adventure and laughter and singing and community.
While we ate lunch David enlightened us on his 6 Universal Truths of Women. I agree with only number 1. A heated discussion followed from the entire group as David continued to defend his claims.
We headed out to the Indianapolis Zoo together and it was an incredible day of sunshine, kids running around and the freedom to be so excited about seeing these animals.
Our team really liked to mimic the noises of the animals as we watched...
WE GOT TO PET SHARKS. Seriously. It was so cool. I think the penguins were my favorite. Especially Caleb the molting penguin that was watching over all the rest.
The only other time I've been to the Indianapolis Zoo was on a field trip in 3rd grade. I flipped out when we got to this Polar Bear viewing area because I vividly remember standing right here and Emily Fisher was standing on my left. So weird to be back in that spot so many years later and feel like it was yesterday.
But this time instead of being surrounded by my classmates from Hillcrest Elementary I was with fellow leaders of Carmel Young Life; some of the very best people I know.
David can speak to sharks with clicking noises. I think this bear's name is Tim, Jake is pretty sure it's Louise.
These bats freaked me out. Watching them stretch out in their hammock like wings and then crawl across the ceiling was the creepiest thing. It weirds me out even just thinking about it now.
Mary Ellen was like out tour guide mom with her map, leading us around from exhibit to exhibit and telling us when it was time to move on to the next. It's fun how in every group people take on certain roles.
We got to see kids on leashes-- who knew they were so wild they needed to be held back? Laura almost cried she was so thrilled to get to see the Tiger up close.
Carrie and Eshan make great flamingos. Mary Ellen and Jake love the Indy 500.
Even kids of privilege carry with them a longing to love and be loved, to find themselves embedded in a community where who they are is celebrated, need and desired.
Our identity is shaped by the interaction between those voices and messages we receive and our internal conception of ourselves.
Above all, each adolescent needs the chance to discover who he or she is as a person who matters and who has a significant role to play in society.
We want our agenda to simply be to love kids.
Jake, David and Tom led us further downtown to this food market where there were probably twenty different food vendors with booths. All were shut down except this Southern creole spot. It was hopping because the Mardi-gras-hat-wearing-employees were loud and having fun on this Saturday night.
Mary Ellen and I decided to live on the edge and go with their $5 special--a crab sausage po' boy sandwich and shrimp etouffee. Honestly I was a little bit scared of both culinary creations. I was happily surprised when I liked both of them.
Our dinner conversation was filled with puzzles of, "I'm going on a trip..." and minute mysteries with clues of matches and clothes from Tony and Audrey. I love that when we see a street performer we all dance along with them and people jump off of benches doing parcour as we walk down the street. We're a strange little group of friends but we sure do have fun together.
The swimming pool was the big selling point of our hotel and we couldn't resist jumping in to play Marco Polo and Sharks and Minnows. We competed in laps in one breath, somersault, hand stand, and biggest splash contests. It was strange to be back in the water after not swimming since August.
Tony and Eshan played guitar for us as we sang a set of worship songs together. There is just something so simplistic and beautiful about singing praise songs like this together. When we had finished the planned list we just kept going through their binders of songs and bringing back the ones we had learned in youth groups and church camps years ago. Breakouts of Wagon Wheel, Plus One classics, Lord I Lift Your Name On High and Beautiful, Scandalous Night were some of my favorites.
After breakfast and mini-life stories in the morning we checked out of the hotel and drove North to go to church together at Common Ground. I love the way the light comes in through the windows in the morning, how people bring coffee cups to church, the kids that inspire us with their faith, and that all of us are voluntarily here because we know that we will experience God and find rest in Him.
We said it so many times this weekend that this is a family. That I'm not just a part of a volunteer organization but I'm part of a group of people that want to center their lives around loving Christ and loving kids. One of my favorite quotable quotes cards reads, " what you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. it will decide what gets you out of bed in the mornings, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you. fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything. -pedro arrupe" Arrupe's words resonate with what we're doing here.
After church I got to spend part of the afternoon with Rachel, Kathleen and Sara eating lunch and telling stories. I love lazy Sunday afternoons when there is no pressing agenda and just the space and time to be together.
Chick Flick Sunday this week brought Sarah and Lizzy over to join Emel, Colleen and I in our movie watching endeavors. These girls are kind and funny and were just as excited as me to not have school tomorrow.
This week's feature was "He's Just Not That Into You" and we were pretty invested in their stories by the end. I love that Sarah is so thoughtful and sweet, that Lizzy says every line of the movie in unison with the characters on screen, that Emel gets so fed up with the storyline that she leaves to go fold laundry until she can handle coming back again.
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