Days 186-189: Back to Maryland??

Today is March 1st, the anniversary of my Interview Retreat Weekend, where I interviewed and learned more about NET and how amazing of an opportunity if would be for me if I got in. And here we are, one year later in Ann Arbor, Michigan, putting on a retreat at St. Thomas the Apostles. It was an early morning, but fortunately it was my retreat off with Sarah. If you haven't noticed, this is my third retreat off with her. It is not intentional, but it just happens that way. Typically Sarah and Nels try and rotate who have day off together, but it didn't work out that way. To be fair, I love my retreats off with Sarah, and this was my first retreat off in six weeks (should have one off every 2-3 weeks), so I'll take it. Can't say I am mad about not having a retreat off in a long time either since it hasn't been super busy with retreats as it usually is. Plus, it was a long retreat off as well, which is an even bigger bonus. We started off with IHOP for breakfast, then Sarah went to pray at a church while I called my parents in the van. From there, we just went to Starbucks and hung around for 3.5 hours. It was super productive and relaxing! I finished some work, made some calls, and watched Youtube. Finally, we ended at Baskin Robbins for some ice cream. Once the retreat ended, we came back, picked everyone up, and went to host homes. The guys stayed with the Reyes Family, an awesome family who lived in St. Paul for a few years and knew Adam's parents and family from community! The father works for the archdiocese of Detroit too, which is apparently on the rise, so that's exciting. That night, we played nerf wars and Madden with the three boys, which was super fun. . . And today we have a No-obligation day! It's weird having two straight days off, but I will definitely take it. We tried to meet up with Team 9, who was in the area, but it didn't work out. So we went to the parish where we held the retreat yesterday, St. Thomas the Apostles, and went our separate ways from there. Being in downtown Ann Arbor, I really wanted to explore the city. So I began walking, and Moriah had no plan either so we stuck together! At first we went different ways for lunch, since she didn't want Teriyaki, and I met up with her at a cafe next door after I was done. From there, we just walked, getting distracted by thrift shops and smoothie places. Eventually we found ourselves on University of Michigan campus! It's extremely spread out, but they had some beautiful buildings, especially what I believe is their law building. Really it was just time spent with Moriah, and I will take that any day of the week. We called it our little retreat off if we never got one off together before the end of the year, and I am super grateful for it. We chilled out at the church the last hour or so before being picked up by Sarah, Adam, Nels and Evan. From there, we picked up the rest of the crew: Jakob, Monica and Ellie at a bowling alley, and Aimee and Roni at a coffee shop, then heading to host homes for the night. Once again, the guys stayed together, this time with the Lenhardt's, who had two sons, one of them who will be on retreat tomorrow. We also played this game called Throw Throw Burrito, which if you are ever looking for a chaotic game for any sort of game night, go pick it up at Target because it is worth it. . . Today was a very strange day. It was a part travel day with a retreat in between. We had our final retreat in Michigan before heading to, wait, MARYLAND!?!? Again!?! We were there for a month and a half, what more has to be done there!? I'm not sure, but I am focused on the task at hand here at Huron Valley Catholic School in Ypsilanti, MI (Ip-sill-antee) for today's middle school retreat. They were a great group of kids, but there was one thing that stood out at this retreat. Fr. Dan, the chaplain here at the school, wanted to try something after mass. He wanted to conduct a healing session for all those who need it, to further show how the Holy Spirit works through all of us, from 6th graders to the Netters. He asked everyone to put their hands over anyone who needed healing, then recite some words of healing. And just like that, fellow classmates were healed! Students shared how their pains and aches went away, and everyone was in shock. I've seen works like this before, but it was awesome being able to see middle schoolers see how God works through us! That was certainly the highlight of this retreat. Immediately after retreat, we drove to Erie, PA for the night at, you guessed it, the Beaver household! It is the third time we have stayed at Sarah's house, and it is the perfect pitstop between the midwest and the east coast. They cooked us up their classic Hamloaf, Cheesy Potatoes and Rasberry Lemonade, which hits hard even in the coldest days of winter. Oh! They also had a new puppy, Bindy. She's adorable. . . It is always a pleasure being able to stay at the Beaver house, and really looking back at the first time we were there (September 24th, over five months ago!), it's crazy how much we changed. There is a picture hanging up on their fridge of us posing in front of the van, recognizing how innocent and young and immature we were. It was nostalgic, but we knew we had to recreate it because we were an extremely different team than what we were then. So we did, and it was glorious. From there, we said our goodbyes, and headed towards Sacred Heart School in Glyndon, MD. I cannot believe we are back in Maryland, but it is only for a retreat. Fortunately, it was one of the best stops yet! When we arrived, we were welcomed by all the host families and priest of the parish at a host family's house, who served us dinner. And there is no doubt that it was one of the most welcoming places yet! I'm not sure what was different, but we just felt so loved by these families, and we were beyond grateful. Nels, Jakob and I got to stay at the house we were fed at, which is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Smith. They were an amazing Catholic couple, and having conversations with them were so beautiful. I wished we could spend more than one night with them, just because they were so good to us.