Attending a youth group camping trip that I planned was always an adventure. I felt like I should have put a disclaimer on the trip brochure, “Attendees should participate at their own risk”, or perhaps more accurately, “Attendees will be wetter than they ever imagined”. It just seemed like I had a knack for having it rain on my camping trips. There was the time my whole group crammed in a men’s restroom at a State Park in Pennsylvania during a severe thunderstorm, while lighting flashed and struck all around us. Then the time where it rained so hard all day on a Saturday, that we finally just packed up a day early and went home with everything soaking wet.
On one trip it rained so much for about 4 hours in the early evening on a Saturday night that all of our tents just collapsed due to being so wet. Everyone and everything was just soaked, and due to our group size and location… leaving was not an option. It was 10PM, and I had a group of 130. What were we going to do? Thankfully, someone took pity on us, and they offered us their barn. So my whole group packed up and we spent the night in a barn. It actually turned out to be a great memory and experience for our group — we had so much fun.
I was so thankful to the kindness of those folks for offering us a place to stay that night. They didn’t have to do that, but they did — and the gratitude that I felt as the leader responsible for all of those kids was beyond measure. What are you thankful for in your life? Where is gratitude displayed in your heart? The Apostle Paul wrote, “Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:7 NLT
I hope you will consider joining us for our Thanksgiving Eve Service, on Wednesday, November 21, 7 PM. It will be a night where we will express our thankfulness to God for all that he has for us. We will spend some time singing songs of gratitude, have an open mic time to share with each other what we are thankful for, and have a conversation about this wise teaching of the Apostle Paul from Colossians 2:7. I can’t think of a better way to kick off Thanksgiving weekend then spending time with my Christian Family, thanking God for His goodness to us!
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