SERVE 08

man what a week! I am not sure where to begin. It seems like every year I forget how great this week is until I am here. I always look back with joy, but I seem to forget how indescribable it is.

Worship...none other like SERVE. To stand in a room and sing with those who don't care what others think about how they sound or if they are doing the right motions at the right time. It seems to me that playing guitar with them is so much fun. I care less about hitting ever strum and making sure it is in perfect tune and more about how to give it all to God. Every strum, every note is an offering.

Participants...overflowing joy. The stories are endless. Every smile, every high five, and every side hug are filled with unconditional love. It is funny how one can fall completely in love with 34 students in just 5 days.

Mentors...speechless. This year I kind of focused in on the mentors of SERVE. I wanted to make sure they were taken care of during the week. God showed up in BIG ways during the nightly mentor meetings. I am blown away with the words God shouted through my mouth. There were a few nights I would walk into the meetings with no agenda and left on fire. 2 of the nights I left completely drained. I remember a group of students that said good-bye as I left and I couldn't even form the word bye. I was also completely humbled when a student prayed blessings over me.

The big swim...complete community. Here is one story I must share. One SERVE participant wanted to jump off the diving board, but while on the board decided not to. He sat there for 8 minutes and in those 8 minutes complete community took place. One by one every mentor, every participant and every adult there was chanting his name. Then all the guy mentors jumped in the pool to cheer him on in the water. Donna and I stood next to the board and encouraged him to jump. We made a deal if he went in, we would go in our clothes. As you can see he jumped in.




Everyone cheered and Donna and I looked at each other and knew we were going in. As we stepped up to the side and got ready to jump. The student stopped us, took our hands and all 3 of us jumped in. Complete community!!!

I am still in awe of the many ways God showed up this week.