Grace Week: Day 4

Okay, so I haven't had time to process yet, but I want to type my thoughts while they're still fresh.

Today = snowboarding, frustraion, satisfaction, amazing chapel, opened eyes and changed hearts. Basically it was amazing!

My alarm went off at 4:30 AM because breakfast was at 5. We were on the road before 6 and on our way to Monarch to go skiing/snowboarding. I've only boarded twice in my life, and it's been about a year since I've been one one. I took some hard falls and got pretty ticked and frustrated that I wasn't doing as well as I thought I should be. Near the end of the day a friend told me something that I was doing wrong. When I corrected it, I did much better! So the boarding turned out good overall. The day was mostly sunny and not too cold with great friends and kids to hang out with.

The worship and speaking tonight was a little different. We went up to the chapel and crammed just about everyone INSIDE of this tiny building. The worship was led by one of the students while he played guitar and sang. Justin kept the message very short and to the point. He read the story out of Matthew (I think) that talks about the wise and foolish men and where they built their houses. He compared the two men and talked about all the things they had in common. They had lots in common, but only one of them lived differently. He challenged the students to take what they learned here back to TX and be different, not staying the same. After that, one of teachers opened up the floor for sharing about the week. So many of these kids stood up and shared their hearts. The main things that came out tonight among these 8th grade. The Holy Spirit moved. He broke down walls, covnicted and forgave. Apparently they're was a lot of gossip and going on this grade. Individuals stood up and acknowleged their wrongdoing and asked for forgiveness from their classmates. Another major issue has been the guys making inappropriate comments to and about the girls and being jerks in general. Some of the guys and girls called the guys on this. Some of the girls stood up one at a time and asked the guys to step up and be leaders. She said they'd been praying for this for so long. Some of the young men stood up and and asked for forgiveness. One of the young men stood up (the one who had led them in worship earlier) and said that he would stand up and be a leader. He also asked for accountablilty from the other guys in his class. One of his classmates stood up and said he'd stand with him and help hold him accountable. Several of the other boys stood up and verbalized that they stood with these young men in stepping up and changing and being leaders. Also among the things being talked about a couple of the girls stood up and said that before this trip, they felt like no one really knew them. Now, some people did. They felt loved and appreciated after this week. I don't think I've ever heard such loud crying and sobbing before.

There were a few guys who, from MY perspective seemed untouched by what was going on. I thought, there are always those who don't seem to get it and go on unchanged. After the sharing and another worshp song, the kids got up and continued crying and started hugging and talking to their classmates. I look over in the corner and see of those guys crying all by himself. Some of his classmates come up for hugs and handshakes. I see him sit down by a couple of his buddies who had SEEMED to have an attitude similar to his. One of the guys had his armed around his friend who was hunched over with his beanie covering most of his face. These two boys were crying as well. Isn't God amazing?! These "tough" guys were breaking down and crying in front of their classmates. I feel like all these things that I've written are only a piece of all that went on. I do know that God's Spirit was there and moving in these kids' hearts. I know that I am amazed and stand in awe of the Holy Spirit's power. God is doing some absolutely incredible things, and I've truly been blessed to be a small part in that.