Summer Kick-off

Wow!!! What a great start to summer! I just got back from an incredible weekend in northern Minnesota. It was my first time seeing this gorgeous area, and I have to say I fell in love with it! I was blessed to head up north with Joel and his family for the holiday weekend. God must have known that I needed a relaxing weekend because it could not have come at a more perfect time.

To back track a little bit (since it has been a little while since my first blog post), my first week was overall great, but still completely overwhelming. We continued to have training throughout the week, while in the midst of all that, we were immersed into group nights. Our first one was on Tuesday, called support night. Here the youth come and talk about their weeks in a safe, open environment. In Support Group, youth take ownership of their feelings and receive support from their fellow peers. I thought I had no expectations going into group, but I was overwhelmed at how much everyone shared in their small groups, especially in front of strangers like me. That was truly a testament to the reputation TreeHouse has built over the years, particularly at the New Hope location, to the way kids feel while they're at group. While that night went smoothly, I can't say that's completely the case for Thursday night's Going Deeper night. Normally, a Going Deeper night is a night similar to a regular youth group night; filled with games, a message with Scripture, and small groups. However, this past Thursday was unique in the fact that it was a celebration night to end the school year and kick of the summer. Instead, we had a Grammy's night, equipped with a "pink" carpet, a news crew, dance-offs, and homemade music videos! But the night was a little chaotic and we had a couple of fights break out, causing the end of the night to not run smoothly. Because of the craziness, I had to give kids rides homes. Because I was unaware of this, I drove kids home as they showed me (for the first time, and more importantly, my first time roaming around Minneapolis), I ended up getting a student and me lost for approximately 45 minutes. Thankfully my supervisor, Nick, got us back on track. Needless to say, it was a stressful end to a transitional week.

I was so thankful for the Brand family's invitation to come up with them to their cabin for the long weekend. It was about 2.5 hours straight north from where I live located near Deerwood, MN on Bay Lake. It was a great getaway filled with great food, fellowship, and gorgeous scenery of God's creation. I'm thankful to share that time with them. Jenna, Joel's sister, and I dropped Joel off at Covenant Pines Bible Camp in McGregor, MN as he started his summer counseling job today. It was amazing to see what God has, is, and will continue to do up there in that special, sacred space. It was also great to see a few of my other good friends, Miles and Kelsey, up there as well as they embark too on their summer jobs at camp. But as great as a weekend as this was, I'm rejuvenated, refreshed, and ready to start a new week. Please pray for safety (emotionally and physically) as I and the rest of TreeHouse staff get the privilege to once again hear what's going on in these student's lives tomorrow night at Support Group. I'm so grateful for your prayers, friendship, and love; I truly saw God's goodness this week.