Days 182-185: Ash Wednesday and First Summer Birthday! (2/26-2/29/20)

We begin the season of Lent today, my first Ash Wednesday away from home. It is an early morning, though, as our host mom works at the school, hence we had to arrive at St. Monica's early. We had mass at 8:00 am, then the retreat for the rest of the school day. We had the 8th graders today and the 7th graders tomorrow. Today's 8th graders were alot of fun! I had my host brother in my small group which was great, and although there were many immature jokes made, they were very fun and respectful for the most part. For the 7th graders the next day, they were one of the best groups yet! Of course I only say that because they actually enjoyed our silly humor, but they were extremely high energy from start to finish, and were easily one of the most invested groups we have had all year. At the Bult's house for both nights, we played a variety of card games: Farkle, Nurtz, and 2,000, while also just hanging out. It's been a good time here in Kalamazoo. For lent, our team is going to do a daily rosary as part of our team prayer, as well as begin to invest more in the retreat by not retreating into our team room, as we sometimes do. It's going to be really fruitful, and I am excited to commit to something with a group of people. Oh, I almost forgot: we drove by Derek Jeter Park. For those who do not know, Derek Jeter is one of the greatest baseball players to ever live, and he grew up and went to high school in Kalamazoo, so we visited his alma mater and the ballpark he played at that is now named after him. As a sports nerd, I obviously geeked out hard. Probably would never have seen it if it weren't for NET, so for this I am grateful. . . Today was a very special day: our very first summer birthday celebration! Obviously we will not be a team when certain teammates will have their birthdays, so we try and celebrate them before the year ends. We have three summer birthdays: Roni, Moriah, and Aimee in that order, so today we celebrated Roni! Ellie and I planned the day out with Nels and Sarah, and it worked out pretty much the way we wanted it to go! We started with team prayer at Sarah and Monica's host family, who had 8 children, then surprised Roni by giving her cards and praying over her, then breaking the news that is her day. According to Ellie and Sarah, her only request was to swing dance. So, we all learned how to swing dance downstairs in this massive home for a solid hour. After lunch and pie, we headed to Newman's Bookshoppe in downtown Kalamazoo, a Catholic book store and gift shop. Roni loves books, it's the first thing you gotta know about her, so it was only fitting we would gift her a book of her choice in the store. From there, we headed to our next stop: St. Agnes in Fowlerville, MI. It was the first Lenten Friday of the year, so we were able to attend Stations of the Cross and a Knights of Columbus Fish Fry, which was so powerful! Got me into the lenten season real quick. That night, the guys got to stay at the retreat site, in a massive community room with a pool table, Wii, and DVD player, along with the gymnasium with basketballs. So we balled out, played some 3-on-2 (Evan and I the two since we played basketball), while pumping some tunes. That night, we watched a movie and stayed up until 2:00am, not because it was an awesome sleeping arrangement, but since it was an evening retreat. Definitely one of the best nights yet with the guys. . . It was a late morning, filled with an awesome breakfast, team prayer, and a solid lunch. Then came the retreat, a middle school/high school youth group at St. Agnes. I'm not sure what came over me, but I got so fired up after the retreat due to how amazing it turned out. I had a great small group, the whole group was alot of fun, and prayer ministry was just so powerful. Even after a 6-7 hour retreat, I felt like I could do another one at 10:00pm! There is no doubt ministry is peaking, we can see the fruits during retreat begin to bloom, and no matter how the retreat goes we can make it a great retreat for the youth and ourselves, and it is a truly exciting time. That night, we cleaned up, I made a call, and prepared for an early morning tomorrow.