Days 58-60: Our Lady of Perpetual Help

3 days, 3 retreats for 3 different grades of the OLPH middle school youth group. Since it was a youth group retreat, it occurred in the evening, leaving us time to get stuff done in the morning. We had our weekly Men’s/Women’s Session, where we just played Nurtz the whole time. We also did things for our donation partners, as well as music practice. Then came the retreat: first up, 8th grade. The retreat was great for everyone… except me. I did all I could to control my small group, but ultimately we got nothing done because of a few kids that never got their act together, no matter how hard I tried. I learned later that everyone else had some of their best small group yet, which I was undoubtedly happy about, but of course a little frustrated. Oh well, tomorrow is a new day, things could turn around easily… right? . . . On an early Saturday morning, we got to do some dyads! Essentially its just quick one-on-one mini chats with people. It was so refreshing because although we are always together, its hard to build intimate connections, which is why this was so healthy. Monica and I got an amazing 45 min convo, instead of the typical 10 min, that certainly helped us build a relationship and realize that we are very similar in many ways! Anyways, looking forward to more of those. Plus, my hope for a new day and better group was fulfilled with the 7th graders! They were SUPER chill and I loved my small group, not just because there was only 5 of them. Im also beginning to understand how to best to run a small group and how to bear the most fruits. This one certainly helped. Excited to build off of this experience! . . . Our last day at OLPH, the 6th graders. After a successful morning Drama Practice, we led one more retreat that turned out to be extremely successful. You can just feel in the team that we are building confidence in all aspects of ministry, and its truly a joy to watch. From opening session to talks to activities, its all coming together beautifully! The kids helped too, as they slowly over time got to like us and enjoy their first NET retreat experience. After the night, we drove to our next city: Hagerstown, Maryland, only 30ish minutes northwest. We arrived around 9:30pm and settled into the convent, ready for a school retreat in the morning! It may be alot to you all, but theres no feeling like this. To continue moving almost everyday is such a rush of excitement and such an experience. Makes me understand why we say theres nothing like NET.