Days 186-190: Redemption (3/10-3/14/21)

Today’s retreat at St. Rose Academy on Birmingham, Alabama is the first NET retreat to ever take place in the diocese of Birmingham. Why it took so long for us to get here I am unsure, but we made it, and I have the pleasure of leading the retreat. It was a group of 7th and 8th graders, and they were one of my favorite groups of students yet. They loved us alot, and wanted us to hang out with them and play games with them, and they really opened up to us. That evening, we went back to John Carroll HS, and had authentic tamales and taquitos! It was so prime, and it made me miss home a little bit. That night, Grace and I had a fun meeting, and spent it watching Captain America: Winter Soldier. What was really special came at the end of the movie, when the team asked us to come and meet them in the chapel. We followed, and they honored us by writing cards and praying over us! I needed that special love so bad, and they provided it for me. Thank you Jesus for knowing what I need. . . My weekly day off came during the second retreat for the 6th graders at St. Rose, but I stayed very busy. I first had to take Brenden and Amanda to the dentist, as they both had teeth acting up. After they got diagnostics, I took them back to the retreat, hopped on a couple calls, got lunch, and explored a little bit of Iron City. Birmingham reminds me alot of Tacoma, with the hills and the small but run-down downtown. Their highlight is a statue of Vulcan, the Roman god of metalwork, which stood on top of a hill. I visited the statue, then hammocked at a nearby park. It was a beautiful day to be outside and hammock, so I took full advantage. Once the retreat ended, we packed up our things and left for Fairhope, AL. We arrived at St. Lawrence, where we were welcomed by the Sylvester’s. Their daughter, Marie, is on NET Team 2 this year, and was actually staying with Samuel’s family in PA not too long after we would stay with her fam! Funny how things work. Anyways, their parish hall was huge, with a concert stage and various instruments, a mini-theater, and a massive kitchen. Needless to say it was a fun night. . . We spent the morning at St. Lawrence, stuffing our Easter letters to our donors, and listening to next chapter of Andrew’s book! From there, we returned to Louisiana. Our next retreat would be at Holy Cross in Lafayette, with Ms. Natalie, whose house we stayed at before Hurricane Delta in October, and whose son, Mark, is on NET Team 10 this year! We knew we would see them in March, but it came so flipping fast. We had special guests with us too: Christina and Anthony, our supes! We picked them up from the Baton Rouge airport, and arrived at the church. From there, we split into host homes, where Anthony, Samuel and I stayed with Wayne, the music director at the parish. He was extremely talented and super cool, and we met his daughter and friends, who were an absolute riot. . . Part of the final supervisor visit is Anthony taking me out for the day during a retreat and hang out, which is what we did on Saturday the 13th. We played catch at a park, visited a cathedral, ate burgers for lunch, walked around the University of Louisiana-Lafayette campus, and bowled. It was a packed day, but it was super active and what I needed. Wayne took us and his daughter and friends out to dinner that night, to a fancy restaurant called Bon Temps Grill, which was delicious. I’m grateful for my day with Anthony, who has been such a support for me this year, and having that quality time was baller. . . Today is a very redemptive day. March 14th was the day my NET team from last year disbanded due to COVID. It was painful for all of us, and the team chat was definitely blowing up that day sharing much love. But today, the road would not end. In fact, we had a retreat, and I would be giving the main talk. It is the confirmation talk, which is extra special because I was on my way to get that talk approved last year until we got cut off. And the youth were either really awesome or had a hard time being there. Either way, I was very grateful for this opportunity. That evening, Wayne fed us Crawfish Étouffée. It was my first time having either crawfish or étouffée, and it was freaking amazing. It’s such a Louisianan dish, and I enjoyed it thoroughly, despite not being a big fan of seafood.