Days 43-45: Weekend in Nebraska (9/26-9/28/20)

Amanda Baker, it’s your 20th birthday!!! How will we celebrate your entrance into a new decade? Well, in a lot of ways. We had a retreat at St. Gerald’s in Ralston, NE, just 20 minutes from where she lives, and she would lead that retreat, her first Retreat Lead! It was a very interesting group, 8th grade confirmation group, and I gave a really redemptive talk. Redemptive in the fact that I almost gave that talk last year had COVID not happened, so it felt great being able to do so this year. On another note, the team is looking really good leading retreats! They’re impressing me despite their lack of experience, and are much farther along when it comes to retreats than I could’ve ever expected. After retreat, we had authentic Chinese food from Mary, our Chinese host mom, and it was SO flippin good. That night, we had adoration and praise and worship at the Ablaze house, which was also incredible! Super blessed with that opportunity to do it with my team. And in Nebraska of all places! Just kidding, Nebraska is dope. Happy birthday Amanda! Appreciate you lots sista. . . The next morning, we took off from Ralston to Columbus, NE, about 1.5 hours west of Omaha, to put on another confirmation retreat at St. Bonaventure parish. It was 4-hour retreat with 113 youth, a very large group in these times, but it worked out well. Nebraska is in Phase 4 currently, so there is low risk and low worry about COVID. It’s strange for sure, but it’s nice to have some sort of normality. That evening, we got placed in our host home: a donated Air BnB, with a billiards table an a sweet entertainment set. It’s so pretty, and it is all to ourselves. Very strange, but I’m here for it. . . Team Day in Columbus, NE. What is there to do in Columbus, you ask? Not sure, honestly, the youth yesterday said there was nothing fun. We’ll figure it out! We started the morning with breakfast at this café, then broke into co-ed sharing groups learning about eachother more. Then we got to experience a Nebraska staple: Runzas. It’s like a hot pocket sandwich, but way higher quality. It gives off a Philly cheesesteak vibe, which I enjoyed. That afternoon, we explored the city through an app called Geocache, which is essentially treasure hunting with other people. It’s alot of fun, and we came across some really cool sites such as Higgins Memorial (look it up!). It was a beautiful day to walk around, and we weren’t afraid to take pitstops at certain places, which gave such freedom. That evening, we went to this fancy restaraunt called Duster’s with the teachers at St. Bonaventure and the other nearby parishes. It was a solid evening, and ended the night with a dance party in the Air BnB. I love this team.