This Weekend History was Made!!!!

Historic describes this weekend. We departed from Utah to Island Park, Idaho with a record number of students. Thirty-five of us from two Utah campuses piled into multiple vehicles for the 6-7 hour drive.

As we drove I reflected on our first fall retreat 6 years ago: 5 staff members and 4 students. We talked anyone and everyone we could into going and ended up with a group composed of two atheists, one Mormon, and one evangelical Christian. The only reason why our Mormon friend came was because he was dating our Christian friend. I think our atheist friends came because we bribed them by paying their way. How times have changed!

The goodness of God permeated this weekend. I knew God was doing incredible things in the lives of our students when one of our international students hugged one of our staff members asking her if she had informed the speaker of all of her issues before she spoke. In every message, God was speaking exactly what she needed to hear.

I also knew that we had reached a milestone when all of us staff members left the student leaders and students on their own during break time. Why? Because they have mastered how to create community and don’t require our presence to make it happen. Time for a teary-eyed-mama-moment.

Side-note, I went on an adventure with our staff ladies and speaker to Yellowstone to see Old Faithful. There is nothing more refreshing than hanging out with XA Staff ladies to rejuvenate your soul. Standing 20 feet from Bison and elk taking selfies with friends is so invigorating.

At Yellowstone I saw a girl with a sweatshirt, “The greatest thing about the great outdoors is going back inside!” Somebody needs to get me that sweatshirt. I love being outside in the day when the weather is perfect, and when there are not bugs, and when I have great friends with me, but sleeping inside is a prerequisite to living. So another refreshing element of the weekend was getting to sleep in a real bed in a real house with real indoor plumbing. I was privileged to share a house with two friends, Stefa and Sarah. This house proved to be the most comfortable when I had stomach problems one night and wore a path from my room to the bathroom all night. Sometime during the night, I stepped wrong on my foot and had to hobble from then on. The next morning at breakfast I had to explain the strange stomach/foot disease I had to everyone because of my prominent limp.

Lastly, not only was the attendance historic for us, there was one more moment that marked history. I had the opportunity to encourage the students to give generously to God, to missions, and more. I begged them to be a generational anomaly. It has been said by experts that this generation will not be givers. They will not be generous. I pleaded with them to do the opposite and they did. Typically our offerings for Fall Retreat are in the $100 to $200 range. These students blew it out of the water with an offering just under $1200!! I believe they are a generational anomaly. I’m on the edge of my seat waiting to see what God will do with a generation that trusts Him more than their checking account balance. History has been made and will continue to be made by these incredible students!