we are back now, we got up at 5:30am and shuffled the youth into vans and set off for home a little after 6am. i'm glad to be back home, however, erin hasn't done her wedding errands yet, so i am waiting at the church for a little bit longer till i get to take that nap that i think many of the youth ministers and youth are already basking in.
yesterday we ended our week with some real high notes. the roofing project i was working on was finished a little after lunch time. the other groups made great progress on houses that still have a long way to finish, but the people they were working with were so appreciative of what they did. that appreciation seemed to be the going sentiment along the whole coast. we had people wanting to do things for us all the time, from cooking lunches to giving plants. anything to show how much they appreciated the help. since my group was close to finishing, i actually went around to the sites took some pictures and gave out ice cream or popsicles. it was fun to see all that everyone was doing. we've found the ice cream popscicle break is big idea for those hot work days.
after our pizza dinner we walked to the beach for our final worship and sharing. it was symbolic of our last time to really take notice of the community around us. i also asked the youth to grab a piece of debris along the way. that became our little altar on the beach. sharing was cool, the place was just right and it felt good to just be in the presence. hunter and others gave out nail cross gifts as rememberance items for the time spent. i've received countless nail crosses in my days of youth ministry, however, i think this one will take on meaning that i won't soon forget.
once darkness fell we headed back to the church and had some great time of fellowship, laughter and telling the stories of the week over again. the seniors and college guys did a great job in giving out awards this year. i was laughing so hard most of the time, many times before the award was even given. best award goes to bob strobel. for your hendersonville folks, you should inquire as to the story behind that. we closed with a video that johnathan and i made. the same stories, but in video, it was a little rough, but everyone enjoyed it. after that it was cleaning up and bed time for me. i hear that a number of folks stayed up later to play 4square. the 4square games were quite intense this week, last night was no exception.
up early and we are back home again. in the on going saga that is my july. i'll leave sometime sunday for lake junaluska for a youth leadership event with our conference council on youth ministries which three of our youth are on. i'm hoping to have a good catch up with paul and talk bloggers convention/conference stuff along with a miriad of other great things. will be back wednesday night and then off to our mystery trip on friday (which i am really looking forward too).
