For those of you who know me very well, you know that I am
straight forward, blunt, and honest. I am not one to sugar coat, lie, or ease
my way out of rough situations… so when it comes to making friends with 18 year
olds. That is a TRUE challenge. Though I love each of my walkabout brothers and
sisters… connecting with them is hard. Either I am too serious, too stern, too
honest, or something. I am not the type of person an 18 desires to get to know,
much less hangout with.
On a lighter note you will see that this trip to Lost Maples
and Garner State Park for me was the most encouraging time I have had with any
of my WA family. Like I said in my “run down” post about the overall trip… we
were split into teams of 5 and we were to spend time with one another… hiking,
free time, cooking, confessing, and relaxing. My group, my roommate and 3 young
men, was absolutely wonderful!
As we got on trail the first day we quickly moved into great
conversation and encouraging words. We hiked pretty quickly to our campsite,
got our two tents set up, and cooked lunch all before our designated time to do
so. I guess you can say we were excited and ready to spend time in fellowship
with one another!
We had a “solo” time alone and read through the fruits of
the spirits and the deeds of the flesh. The fruits of the spirit were to serve
as an encouragement to see the areas we have grown in and a reinforcement of
the areas we need to personally work on. My fruits that I can tell I have grown
in are patience and love. Obviously, the other fruits are evident in some
aspect of my life… but these two I can visibly see personal growth since August.
The fruits that I need to work more on are peace and gentleness. These two are
harder because of my style of leadership and my personality. Things are hard
for me to hold in and not be blunt about… but I know some people can’t handle
stern words or blunt truth. So I desire to find a way not to lie or sugarcoat
to them… but to be gentle in my words. We read through the deeds of the flesh
in order to think through those we struggle with and those we need to confess
to the Lord and our camping group (read confession blog).
After we all finished our solo time, we decided to meet back
up and spend the remainder of the day fellowshipping with one another through
exploring the park! We went in and out on trails, along the riverbeds, up and
down cliffs, and took many many pictures! Our group time was spent in a relaxed
loving way of sharing time with one another. There were many times I gave God
praise for those He placed in my group. He knew exactly who I needed to love on
me! Let me tell you these were 4 people I have never really hung out with… this
was done on purpose!
We also chose not only to fellowship alone, but to spend
time fellowshipping with the other groups. So on our exploring adventure time…
we made our way to our leaders’ site first (3 miles or more away). They were
not there, but we eventually found them on the trail! After we passed our
leaders we made our way to the next group we wanted to visit (another 2 miles
away)… this trip was up hill and rough!!! But it was a lot of fun joking with
one another and laughing through the calf cramps together J Once we got to this
first group, we were greeted with love, laughter, and hugs! We were super happy
that we were welcomed into the group. We joked around with this group for about
15-20 minutes before we decided we better head on to the next group’s site because
it was getting dark. So we headed to our final group that we wanted to visit
and fellowship with (1 mile away). When we got there we were not greeted as
loving so we decided to leave after just a good minute or so. On our 1 mile
trek home, we continued in our fellowship and laughter now in the dark going
downhill! Though the last leg of our fellowship was not as uplifting as we
desired, we were all very encouraged and ready for dinner.
During our dinner, which we ate 2 hours late because of our
other plans, we discussed and had our confession time over the deeds of the
flesh (read that blog). After dinner time, we laughed and told stories together
until we were too tired to even stay awake listening to one another!
The following morning we chose to take a long trek (5 miles
or more) together for one last round of exploring and fellowship with one
another. I will say my group made me super excited to share life together. Each
member contributed in an uplifting way and was so much fun. Our group totaled
over 13 miles in the 24 hours that we spent at Lost Maples. And as I have said
before…. That has been the best 24 hours of my Walkabout experience in terms of
being a WA family!
Garner State Park was more focused on the group like most
trips are, but the amazing race that I mentioned was for our groups again. This
time of fellowship was FUN once again. We raced around together finding caves,
painted rock, row boats, rope swings, putt putt, getting in freezing water,
finding the dance hall and the list goes on. I was excited to spend time with
these 4 people one last time before we returned to Camp Eagle!!!
Fellowship. It is important. It makes friendships grow. It
is a time to spend with another person sharing life. It has changed my
perspective of these 4 WA members. It has made me feel loved and wanted.
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