Humbling Summer

Well, I know it's been quite some time since I've written on here, but man I have been so busy with my Churchs' Summer Internship this summer. I have grown so much physically and Spiritually because of this program. Summer Internship was an 8 week leadership development program where we learned to grow physically with workouts, and spiritually through teachings and experiences. On our kickoff weekend for summer staff, we all drove to the Hyatt Hotel, and spent hours in one of their conference rooms getting to know each other through the likes of games. Our Pastor then gave us a message on Repentance, where he started to name off just a few of the sins in the Bible, and we had to write down all of the ones we had committed on a sticky note, and then stick it to our bodies. As you can guess, we were covered in them. But then some worship music was put on, the lights were dimmed, and he had us pray for those sins one by one. It was quite astonishing to see all of those sticky notes laid out before you. My favorite moment from that night was that we prayed and worshiped for four hours straight. Worship music was playing, and we were all singing along. I got goose bumps many times throughout the night, it was indescribable.


Every single Wednesday and Thursday we had to be at the church. We did workouts in the mornings, and many different teachings in the afternoons. We would all spend 14-15 hour days at the church on Wednesdays, but for what we did, it was well worth it. On Sundays we would have field trips, and we did everything from camping out at the church, to getting stranded on an island called Cayo Casta, to even helping out with an event that our church puts on every year called Project Backpack. For the last 8 weeks, every Wednesday and Thursday, that's what my life consisted of. It was such an enlightening and humbling experience to be apart of. Sadly, yesterday, 8/2/12, was the last day of summer staff. But what we did I will never forget.We went back to the beginning, back to where it all started. We went back to the Hyatt Hotel. Will thought the perfect ending to this internship would be to do what Jesus did. Jesus washed his disciples feet. In order to be a leader, you must serve. So, there were four bowels of soapy water, and on each one of our chairs was a small towel that said summer staff 2012. We got in groups of four, and washed each others feet. As my Pastor says, not only is it humbling to wash someones feet, but it's also humbling to have your feet washed. And he was right. It was the most odd, yet meaningful experience. The absolute perfect way to end Summer Staff. I thank God that I had the opportunity to serve and be a part of this incredible group. 


(The First picture is a few people getting their feet washed, and the second is our entire group shot. I wouldn't want to do life with anyone else but these guys.)