Let's start with Friday. Friday night I started out by helping with nametags. It was really cool to be able to meet some of the kids right away and hear where they were from and that kind of thing. Some people drove over 3 hours to come. I thought that was awesome!
We then went to our first session, which went really well, and then to small groups. I was a little worried about how small groups were going to go.... Last Tool Time, my small group didn't exactly go very well. The kids didn't want to participate, and it just seemed to flop. This time, I had the most amazing group of kids ever. It wasn't necessarily because they were willing to share with the group, but because of the love that they formed for each other in a little less than 24 hours. These kids genuinely loved being around each other, and didn't want to leave.
After session 1, the kids played a big game, and then had pizza. It was then Time for Offerings. I am ashamed to admit that by this point of the night, I had a horrible attitude. I had shifted my focus from helping the kids to "what can I get out of Offerings for me?" As I was walking in with a friend, she said to me "Let's mix in with the kids." I replied "No. I am sitting near the front. You can join me if you want." Then, under my breath I said "This time isn't about the kids. It's about me." And as I said it, I was like wow, that was self-centered, but that was all I thought about it. Through Offerings, God did reveal some stuff to me that night about things that I wasn't expecting. I will explain later what I realized after examining the way that I was acting.
So, after Offerings I came back to my dorm and prayed about some stuff with my RA and then I went over to my friend Randi's dorm to help her host some middle schoolers for the night.
The next day we had another session, and then breakouts. The breakouts were tons of fun, and really helped us bond with our small group. Later we had a service project where we made tie blankets for the homeless. It was tons of fun, and so cool to see the kids in my small group all working together and working really hard. We then had another session and small groups. At the last small group, we wrote notes to each other to keep. One little girl wrote a note to me and Stephanie that said "Thank you for being such amazing small group leaders and really loving Paris (our small group). Love, Hannah" It was really cute. Then, unfortunately, they went home. I miss them soooo much, I cannot even believe it. We really bonded, and I hope that I will get to see them all again next year.
There is one other thing that I feel that I have to mention- His name is Garrett. Garrett is one of my new favorite people. Garrett is 16 years old, and has special needs. He came to Tool Time with his older sister and they were both in my small group. Garrett blessed me in soooooo many ways in just 24 hours. On Saturday we were sitting eating lunch and Garrett came over to sit with me and Stephanie. I had to leave for a minute, but I came back to the cafeteria and I was standing by our table when Garrett came over to me and said Hi. He gave me a hug, and just held on to my hand. We just stood there for a few minutes until we had to leave. He just had the biggest smile on his face, and I knew it meant a lot to him that I was holding his hand. But at the same time, that was one of the greatest moments of my entire life. Garrett always wanted to sing by me and Stephanie during our sessions. He would always watch what we were doing such as raising our hands, and he would do it too. You could tell that this boy has a special connection with God that most people do not have. It was amazing. I am praying that I will get to see Garrett again next year.
Tool Time was amazing. I hate to admit that this time around I went in looking to get something out of it for me, when in reality my focus needed to be on what God was going to do through us and through the kids. But what is sooooooo stinken amazing to me, is that when I don't focus on me- God gives the little moments like Garrett holding my hand or me seeing a hundred middle schoolars watching us as we raise our hands and then they do the same. When I took the focus off of me, and I put it back on God, amazing things happened. Offerings helped me to realize that. I was so self centered, but as soon as I became "God-centered" God gave me the help that I needed. I learned this weekend how to be a role model, how fun it is to work with Middle Schoolers, and how God can change someone else's life using the most unexpected things such as a little boy named Garrett. I am really sad that I have to wait a few months before the next Tool Time. If any of your youth groups would be interested in coming please let me know. The more kids we have, the more fun it is for us, and the more lives God changes!
No comments:
Post a Comment