It can't get better than brick sidewalks...

It is not a lack of words but rather a copious amount of them that describe this weekend…

Rest, peace, refreshment…

It started with a mix up that seemed like a massive inconvenience.  Our hot water and heat didn’t work.  Because of the outside temperature of 65 the heat didn’t seem overly important but hot showers and clean dishes seemed to be something we didn’t want to sacrifice so we opted for an alternate location offered to us.

We reluctantly repacked the food, the board games, the art supplies, the books, the clothes and we loaded up for our 10 minute drive across town.

We pulled up alongside the brick sidewalk and entered through the massive black steel door into an oasis of a house with a private courtyard and rooftop patio.

All one could hear were exclamations of “What!” “No way!” “Come look!” as we scurried about this piece of paradise in what seemed like a quaint village. We were suddenly so grateful for lack of hot water and heat and God’s ability to always turn things around from a curse to a blessing.

This unexpected blessing alerted us to God’s intentions for the weekend before we watched all of it unfold…

One of our students struggling to figure out God and his real character after years of thinking He was harsh and vengeful, said that she is in her Christian era now and that she has finally found Jesus.

Another student having heard terrible news about a friend while on retreat learned how to give things to God with her core group surrounding her on the aforementioned brick sidewalks as she crumbled under the weight of it all.

Another student brought a friend that had never gone to church.  Her friend asked me what it means to follow Jesus.  I explained and then joined her on her side of the table to pray the sinner’s prayer alongside her friend who had been praying for this very thing to happen.

Another student made this profound statement when we were discussing the fact that the average person touches their phone over 2000 times a day, “What if we thought about God that much…”

So we tried to do just that…As I joined these ladies on this device-free weekend, my soul was deeply refreshed and connected to God as I slowed my pace and trusted God…It was a bit of a life altering week for me sans social media, sans Netflix, and sans the plethora of apps that consume my precious time and I believe it was a pivot point in the lives of all of us.

Thank you for all you did to make this weekend possible.

P.S. The boys had an epic weekend too!