Day 100: Link Retreat w/ Team 10!

How crazy is that! Its been 100 days since ive left home for the first time, and everything ive been through since then. And today makes it all worth it. For the first time since we hit the road September 21st, we would get to not only see another NET team, but also run a retreat with them in New Jersey! We left the Christensen’s house at around 8:30am, picked up the girls, and headed for Morristown, NJ for that retreat. It wouldnt start until 4pm, but we wanted to hang out with Team 10 beforehand, since it has been over two months since weve last seen them. So at around 12:30 we arrived at a Target near the parish, and parked right next to their van and trailer. Of course i want to see all the netters, but a few specifically i was excited to see. Adam Baker, who was in my Camp Wapo small group during training, Amanda Lindayag, who i went roller coaster riding with at the Mall of America, Mark Johnson, because hes an absolute legend and we shared an amazing moment the day before departure day, and Bre Younger, because shes super loving and i talked to her constantly during the latter weeks of training. And either way, when 21 crazy Catholics get together, you know the place gets LOUD. Feels bad for all the Target/Starbucks workers and shoppers. But in all it was an amazing reunion that i never wouldve imagined, because its not everyday you get a chance to run a retreat with another team. We left at around 2:45 to arrive at the parish on time. The retreat: a confirmation retreat at Assumption School with around 175 youth, hence why the two teams were brought together. Of course it was rowdy, and it was good for the most part until the end. The plan initially was for the last hour of retreat the retreatants would go to confession and return to their small groups to get prayed over by their leaders. Well, that didnt happen at all. The confirmation teacher said once they went to confession the kids would leave. When she said that, all i thought was chaos. And chaos it was. When dismissed, all 175-200 youth stood up and got in line for confession, then left, or worse, left without confession. This chaos ensued for an hour, and there wasnt much we could do besides find our small group members and pray over them quickly. Once all the retreatants left at 8pm, we got to breathe and regain our senses again. After cleaning up, we headed over to the rectory for the night. Once settled, we had a late night team prayer, which turned out to be extremely powerful. Both team at a certain point prayed over eachother, and it was so so nice to praise and worship with 10 other members. Once finished, we said our goodbyes and went to bed, since both teams had early mornings. Fortunately, it would only be 3-4 weeks until we see them again at the NET Center, so at least it doesnt hurt as much. An unforgettable experience, and certainly a high point in ministry this year.