iNstitute '08

It's taken me a while to get to this post, not for any real reason other than I just hadn't thought to post about it. (Duh!) But I have to say that iNstitute was awesome this year! We had a great Care Group. Now, I know that everyone always says they had a great CG, but this one really was. It was most evident outside of our CG times. Almost every day, when I would see one CG member, I'd see at least half the CG and when I'd look for someone else I'd find the other half of the group. They really hung together and it was wonderful to see!

We had one young woman (Hi, Claire) who came late because of another camp. I worried that she might not fit in because of having missed the first day-and-a-half and that the group would have bonded without her, that she'd never really be a part of the group, but just an appendage to it. BUT! It was as if she'd been there all along. They welcomed her, found a place for her in the skit we were working on, and she was in one of those halves of the group every single time! They were awesome!!

We didn't get into deep philosophical discussions, they didn't get all weepy over each other during our last long CG time, but they were fun to be with for the week. I got to connect with a couple of them during the iNstitute reunion, but had to leave right after our worship time so I didn't get to see most of the others who were there.

So here's a shout-out to you all--you're iNcredible! Stay in touch. I look forward to seeing you all next year. (Except you, Sam. I'll see you at Visitors' Nights and when you can come back as an adult.) And don't forget about other Conference youth events, like CIA in October. Make sure your youth leader knows about it and gets you there. We can have our own mini-reunion.

Keep believing!

Peace, love and grace.