Wednesday - by Shea Slayter

Yesterday was our first day waking up in New Jersey. It was our beach day, and we were all excited for a little rest and relaxation after a tiring day of traveling. I was surprised to know that some of the participants would be coming on our bus with us, and joining us at the beach. It was a little intimidating because there were a couple kids that came to the beach day that had decided to not be participants at this weekend, so it put a big pressure on all the team members’ shoulders to make them feel as welcome as possible and give them a really good time to maybe change their minds on coming to our weekend. When they got on the bus, they were obviously nervous about walking on a bus full of 38 people they had never seen before, and they all sat together towards the front of the bus. A couple of us at the front decided to start a game of mafia to break the ice with the potential participants, and although mafia is a really silly game, it got rid of a lot of the awkwardness and it was a really fun time.

At the beach, everybody had such a great time. I think I swam for about two hours straight, and it was really cool to get to know the participants and bond with the team members more. The best part was, after we got back to the church after the beach, Katie, our New Jersey leader, told us that the students that had decided to not come to the weekend had changed their minds, and they committed to coming. It was a really good feeling knowing that we had done our job and we had made such a good impression that they were willing to trust us and spend an entire weekend with us without knowing what’s in store for them.

Later that night, we had our dedication ceremony, where our CoLeaders wash our hands and pray for us, and then we knead bread that will later be used for communion on Friday night, and we pray for our participants individually. As we are doing all of this, we are also singing some of my favorite worship songs. When we were done praying for each participant and kneading the bread, we sang our theme song for the weekend, which is Light the Fire. Singing that song was probably my favorite part of the day because it felt really powerful to me. It was the song we sang the loudest and with the most confidence and it sent chills down my back. And I know that I wasn’t cold because it was really hot in that room last night, so I knew it was God showing his presence. As we started to sing, I looked back at the New Jersey adults and saw the looks on their faces, especially Katie who remembers that song from when she went to LOG when she was in high school, and they all looked like they were feeling the same chills I was. Afterwards, I talked to Bennett, who was sitting by me in the circle and he said he felt the chills too, so I am confident that God was in the room to bless the participants and the bread, and focus our hearts to the weekend we have ahead of us.

Shea Slayter

Wednesday Night / Thursday Morning

We had a great day at the beach followed by a wonderful taco supper and our dedication later in the evening.

But I forgot to remind one of our Team members to write the blog.

So we'll publish in the morning (well, could be as late as noon!)

terry

Tuesday Night by Anna Polovick

This morning we arrived at EHUM at 7 am to get on the bus to head to New Jersey. (Finally!) We knew it was going to be a long trip when approximately a minute into the trip Clay announced that “Mary Kate is bored.” However, 13 hours of driving, 4 stops (including one for dinner), 5 movies (Lauren would like to emphasize that we watched Captain America), many naps and games and chats later, we have arrived!

It seems a bit unreal that the trip we’ve been talking about since the first week of April is actually here. The whole team has been working for about 3 months for this one trip, and the final step in our journey has finally begun. We’re really excited for the whole weekend, but also for tomorrow to head to the shore! Spending so much time sitting on the bus has us all looking forward to spending some time outside on the beach.

One thing that has really hit me this past week preparing to come to New Jersey is how many people are behind us and support us. This includes team members and adults for L.O.G. #61 at Bashor to current students and adults who participate in L.O.G. to L.O.G. alumni to family and friends. Today on the bus some of us even video chatted with a friend in Germany who attended L.O.G. #60 as a foreign exchange student. It means the world to me that so many people support us, and I feel that love surrounding us. I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers, and please keep them coming! There’s still a lot to be done here, especially with the actual weekend beginning Thursday!

Love, Anna Polovick

T-minus Seven Hours

12:32am and I think I am ready - better be, we leave in seven hours.

Thanks be to God - and to all who have helped make this become reality.

We will update this blog a lot - check it everyday ...

The Next Step: Love•4•God

The Next Step: Love•4•God

L.O.G. weekends are peer-led.  Twenty to thirty youth serve on a Team to prepare and present a L.O.G. weekend retreat.

Of course, there are adults who serve as advisors, mentors and are, as one of our adult leaders always puts it, “cool adults who care about the kids”.  Understandably, most parents might be concerned about allowing their daughter or son to attend a weekend with no adult supervision.

But, most of the leadership comes from the youth themselves.   They plan the event, invite their friends and then give talks, lead discussions and serve in many other ways all around the theme of what it means to be in a relationship with God and how that makes a difference in their life.

I believe that the peer leadership is part of what makes L.O.G. uniquely effective.  Kids listen to kids differently than they listen to adults.  There’s real power in hearing someone your own age sharing his or her story – the highs and the lows, the joys and the struggles and where God fits into that story.

But on our journey of faith and life, along with someone to walk beside us, we also need someone to go before us – to lead and guide and teach and inspire.

If L.O.G is about discovering God’s love for us, The Next Step: L•4•G is about how to love God back by living in relationship to God in our day-to-day lives.  L•4•G focuses on how to deepen our relationship to and understanding of God. 

There’s plenty of time for conversation and sharing with friends, but L•4•G is always led by an adult – someone who has been on the journey a little longer than the youth – someone who’s spiritual maturity and wisdom can encourage, challenge and motivate us to take the next step – and then the next and the next.

Sometimes we focus on the spiritual disciplines.  Sometimes we dig into Scripture.  We’re just back from L•4•G #15 where Sheila Auter led us as we considered “The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive”.  In group discussions and personal vertical time we sought to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit about what it means to be alive in Christ.

There's an old Chinese proverb, “A journey of a lifetime begins with a single step” or maybe more accurately “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.  It is my prayer that the steps we take in L.O.G. and L•4•G last thousands of miles in our lifetimes.