Day 101-102: My Weekend in MA... Again

It was the first early morning in what feels like a long time: 4:30am to leave at 5:15 for our next location. It would be a 6-hour drive to St. Joseph's in Holbrook, MA, so in other words a lot of van naps for the whole team. It was a simple retreat, I gave the power of friendship talk, and the youth responded really well! All in all, it was just really nice being in the New England area again. Nothing against Maryland, but being in a different area gave us a new sort of refreshment. Although it was a late retreat, 1-9:30pm. Luckily Nels and Ellie, who had the retreat off for the day, brought our luggage into the convent we were staying at for the night, so we didn't have to worry about bringing it in. Absolute time saver. We ended the night with team prayer, which was an affirmation station until midnight. Although it was so good and necessary in team bonding, we were all falling asleep after a 20-hour long day. Plus with another somewhat early morning tomorrow, it's gonna take alot of grace to get us going. . . It was a very busy morning for us, 6:30am wakeup, personal prayer, breakfast and load by 8:00. We arrived 45 minutes later at St. Joseph's (yes, another St, Joseph's) in Medford, MA, just outside of downtown Boston. Retreat was only 6 hours, definitely not like the day-long retreat yesterday, so we felt good about that. The youth this confirmation retreta were very quiet and low energy, but were respectful and, at least in my small group, listened to what I had to say, so I really can't complain. That night, we stayed in the rectory down the street, which is now used as an office space for the parish. We ate dinner there with some of the staff members, and later went to an ice cream parlor called Colleen's, where I got an Orange Sherbet Freeze, arguably one of the best desserts on the road. If you are in Boston for any reason, highly recommend Colleen's, really cute 50's-themed ice cream shop. That night, we did a quick team prayer, a Litany of Hours, since it was late and we all wanted sleep so bad. I will admit, doing different types of team prayer has been fun and different. Yet praise and worship will always be the best form of team prayer, and I'm excited to do that as soon as possible. . . We have one more retreat in New Jersey tomorrow before we head to Roni's house for thanksgiving! All of us are looking forward to break, and just so interested into seeing how a week of no ministry will treat us. Definitely excited for what is to come!