Days 175-178: House of Peace (Pt. 3!), A Surprise Visitor, and Slinger, WI

I never explained why we went back to Tim and Paula’s house: we were returning to the House of Peace for one more service day! Unfortunately, two of the sisters were out due to sickness, and two others took care of them, so there was only the five guys and two sisters. No matter, it turned out well. Roni and I were assigned to sort boxes of non-perishable items into other boxes, which we did for five hours. It was crazy how efficient we got one we figured out the system of what were in the boxes and who takes which foods to which boxes. This sentence may not make sense at all, but at least it does to Roni and I! Either way, we were super efficient. That evening, i got a surprise visitor to come pick me up: my dad! He was in Chicago for the week for business, and found time off to come up to Milwaukee! It was a 1.5 hour drive for him, so I’m super grateful he came out. We went out for dinner at Kopp’s, mainly because of their custard, but also heard their burgers were amazing. They were okay. Once finished, we were stuck on where top go and what to do. No good movies, already ate … then dad found a billiards place not too far out, so there we headed. Turns out paps is pretty good at pool, and i had no idea. He taught me a few things while talking, catching up, and beating me at every round we played. From there he took me back to host home, and went back to Chicago. Its not often Netters get to see their family, so grateful doesn’t even begin to describe how i feel after tonight. . . Today was like a half no-obligation day: the retreat tonight wasn’t until 6:00pm, so our first obligation wasn’t until 2:00pm, which was pickup! Definitely the latest we’ve ever gone, so i took advantage. In the basement, there was a mini-workout room that we could use. So, after sleeping in, i got to workout for the first time in what feels like decades, which was super refreshing. Then i showered, packed, and left for Mukwonago, WI (Muck-Juan-ago) for St. James Parish. The retreat, although only a few hours, felt so chaotic because of the guys, and despite them being more obnoxious than a typical guys group, they were fantastic in prayer ministry, which I’m super grateful for. For host homes, the guys got to stay at a motel! It was the first one of the year, so we were super hyped. On the way, right next to motel was a Taco Bell, and so the guys began craving despite having snacks galore. But if you’re a teenager/young adult, nothing sounds better than a late night Taco Bell run with the boys. We all ended up getting the $5 Nacho Fries Box, which was so good at 10:30 at night. Yes, this is camaraderie for us, and we are living. . . After cleaning up our messes from the night before and checking out of the motel, we did some ministry work at St. James, then left for St. Peter in Slinger, WI. On the way, the fire extinguisher went off, and sprayed everyone in the back two rows, especially Jakob, who was sitting on top of it. It was pretty nasty. When we got to the church, a retreatant was appear there in his car watching all of us dust ourselves free of the extinguisher, which was hilarious but so disgusting. As for the retreat, it was a high school group who was a little quieter, but extremely curious about the faith. That night, we got to experience adoration and confession, which was powerful for me. Many, many glory stories came out of this retreat, and it was so awesome seeing it all come to life. We stayed the night in the offices, anticipating the next retreat. . . Today’s retreat was for the middle schoolers, and the retreat was very well said by Evan: it felt like we were hanging out with the retreatants rather than ministering with them. They were so much fun to hang around with, and everyone was so comfortable with eachother, which really gave me joy. Its just felt like the past few weeks of ministry had just been absolutely amazing, and we’re really hitting our stride right now. Once finished cleaning up, we had team prayer with the retreat contract person Eileen, then took off for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in New Berlin, WI (emphasis on the “BER” rather than the “LIN” in “Berlin” or else the residents will get mad). I ended the night with Evan at Ms. Lee’s house, an older lady who was super sweet in hosting us. We played board games, such as Rummikub and Sequence, which excited me for the rest of my time with her and in Wisconsin.