June 21st-28th
I spent the past week in Scranton, PA with another girl from my church and our "youth group" leader, Liz. We left early Tuesday morning and got to Scranton University by two in the evening. The conference was four days long and every day they had two plenary sessions that were mandatory (but they only had one session on the first and last days). Then we had one breakaway session and one in-depth session each day. In between we had free time and meal time of course. :P
Tuesday was a bit stressful. Our driver missed the speed limit sign and was going too fast so we got pulled over and then when we finally got there, we split up. Our leader had a meeting and so my friend and I got some lunch and sat outside. By that time we missed the church service and our leader had been freaking out because she thought we were going to be there. THEN we had to switch buildings and THEN we thought we lost our new room keys. So we tore apart our luggage trying to find them. It turned out that the lady never even gave them to us. But after that everything was pretty good. I'm on an email list for Lutheran teens, called Mouth House, and so I met a lot of people from the list. That was really super awesome. I know I've mentioned before my lack of friends near me. So I dont usually even get to see other kids. But at this conference i was SURROUNDED by kids. It was pretty much heaven. In case you haven't noticed... I have this thing about being around other kids my age... Like a complex or whatever they call that.
There were three services a day, and a divine service on Thursday. I loved all the services, they were really nice. Our church is big and mostly empty... so it was great to be in a medium-sized packed church. Theres something moving about the power of all those voices together saying The Lord's Prayer or singing a beautiful hymn. And the choir was amazing. Our choir is small and not the greatest but the conference choir was really good. So that was also nice. For divine service, they even had trumpets and drums and stuff which was neat. I miss having instruments. Another thing I thought was neat was that for the evening services (vespers was in the afternoon so i dont know what to call the evening services) they used incense which I understood as soon as I saw the incense on the altar. What with the "let my prayers rise before you as incense" and all that. :) So that was really cool. For divine service there were about ten pastors there and I really liked seeing them all process down the aisle and stand in front for the first couple of minutes.
Most of the classes were great. The plenaries were given by Reverend Borghardt and Reverend Buetow. (sp) They were both really cool guys, and very funny. They kept it interesting and I think I learned a lot from them.
Some of the breakaway sessions I took were "Don't Rob God's Job" which was about how people think their good works are their own and not God's. "What Do I Say Now?" was about what to say to people when they ask questions like "Well if God exists, why are there hurricanes that kill thousands of people?" and stuff like that. It was pretty fascinating but unfortunately he only had time to go over one scenario. I also went to "Romans Rhetoric" which was supposed to help understand the way Paul was taught and how he wrote. Unfortunately the topic was so massive, it didnt fit in the small time slot he had. And I was incredibly confused the whole entire time. =/ the last Breakaway was Christ On Campus: Surviving College, and it was about a few things to expect from college and habits to get into and avoid. Christ on Campus is a program that provide good churches to go to while kids go away to college.
The in-depth session I chose was "Would the Real Gospel Please Stand Up?" and it was about the different things that other Christians believe, such as the Calvinists and Arminians. Or "calves and arms" as the pastor called them. :P It was a bit confusing... partly because the pastor was rushing through parts and also partly because - unlike Rev. Borghardt and Rev. Buetow - I didn't think the pastor was teaching as if he were teaching teenagers. He was teaching adults. Which I can understand but it got boring and he was kind of hard to follow sometimes. But I did find it interesting to learn about what those other kinds of people believe.
In between all that, we had some delicious on-campus cafeteria food. And we also played "volley ball" which i never got around to taking pictures of - because believe it or not, I was actually playing too. ;)
One day they arranged for all the people in the conference to go the nearby (ten blocks or so) park. They had a pool and slides and a walking trail and some nice scenery... We walked the mile there and went for a walk after lunch. Then we got lost and walked back. By that time they had mysteriously closed the pool and so we walked back. All in all it was probably about four or five miles all crammed together which was kind of a pain. but after that we went and found the Scranton sign from The Office. They put it in a mall and got a new sign. Can you believe it?
Thursday they had karaoke after church and that was pretty fun. Then a couple of us just sat outside talking together by the water fountain which was cool....
The last day was pretty tough. Because leaving and going back home is always the hardest part for me. Back to having no friends to hang out with whenever, back to having no where to be, back to being always just slightly, vaguely suspicious of the people who walk down the street.
The great thing about the conference was that everyone was so nice. Everybody there was a Lutheran and I was never intimidated by anyone or felt like they'd start a fight or mug me if I looked at them the wrong way or something. I just felt safe and very comfortable. And, I know no one will ever believe me, but I introduced myself to people :P I was a bit more outgoing than normal... It was really cool. I went up and talked to this guy I didnt even know, because my mom said his mom said to tell her to tell me to tell him HI. So I actually engaged in conversation instead of just saying hi. Which is like, amazing for me. Considering I didnt really even know him and I'm usually the shyest person on the planet. But you'd never be able to tell if you saw me at Scranton, except for the first day we were there. But it felt good to just relax and talk to people. I kind of wish it could always be the way it was at the conference. Different people who were nice, all around me, places to go, new exciting things to learn. Church to go to every day, friends to hang out with. I felt good, constantly. And not crabby like I do when I get stuck at home with my four younger siblings. Don't get me wrong, I love my family but when I'm stuck with my siblings twenty four seven, they get really uber annoying. When I get to see other people I'm in a better mood and they dont have to be around me all the time, and they're in a better mood...
There's always next year. Until then, I have email and facebook. :/ The theme next year is Sola, meaning Alone.
Tuesday was a bit stressful. Our driver missed the speed limit sign and was going too fast so we got pulled over and then when we finally got there, we split up. Our leader had a meeting and so my friend and I got some lunch and sat outside. By that time we missed the church service and our leader had been freaking out because she thought we were going to be there. THEN we had to switch buildings and THEN we thought we lost our new room keys. So we tore apart our luggage trying to find them. It turned out that the lady never even gave them to us. But after that everything was pretty good. I'm on an email list for Lutheran teens, called Mouth House, and so I met a lot of people from the list. That was really super awesome. I know I've mentioned before my lack of friends near me. So I dont usually even get to see other kids. But at this conference i was SURROUNDED by kids. It was pretty much heaven. In case you haven't noticed... I have this thing about being around other kids my age... Like a complex or whatever they call that.
There were three services a day, and a divine service on Thursday. I loved all the services, they were really nice. Our church is big and mostly empty... so it was great to be in a medium-sized packed church. Theres something moving about the power of all those voices together saying The Lord's Prayer or singing a beautiful hymn. And the choir was amazing. Our choir is small and not the greatest but the conference choir was really good. So that was also nice. For divine service, they even had trumpets and drums and stuff which was neat. I miss having instruments. Another thing I thought was neat was that for the evening services (vespers was in the afternoon so i dont know what to call the evening services) they used incense which I understood as soon as I saw the incense on the altar. What with the "let my prayers rise before you as incense" and all that. :) So that was really cool. For divine service there were about ten pastors there and I really liked seeing them all process down the aisle and stand in front for the first couple of minutes.
Most of the classes were great. The plenaries were given by Reverend Borghardt and Reverend Buetow. (sp) They were both really cool guys, and very funny. They kept it interesting and I think I learned a lot from them.
Some of the breakaway sessions I took were "Don't Rob God's Job" which was about how people think their good works are their own and not God's. "What Do I Say Now?" was about what to say to people when they ask questions like "Well if God exists, why are there hurricanes that kill thousands of people?" and stuff like that. It was pretty fascinating but unfortunately he only had time to go over one scenario. I also went to "Romans Rhetoric" which was supposed to help understand the way Paul was taught and how he wrote. Unfortunately the topic was so massive, it didnt fit in the small time slot he had. And I was incredibly confused the whole entire time. =/ the last Breakaway was Christ On Campus: Surviving College, and it was about a few things to expect from college and habits to get into and avoid. Christ on Campus is a program that provide good churches to go to while kids go away to college.
The in-depth session I chose was "Would the Real Gospel Please Stand Up?" and it was about the different things that other Christians believe, such as the Calvinists and Arminians. Or "calves and arms" as the pastor called them. :P It was a bit confusing... partly because the pastor was rushing through parts and also partly because - unlike Rev. Borghardt and Rev. Buetow - I didn't think the pastor was teaching as if he were teaching teenagers. He was teaching adults. Which I can understand but it got boring and he was kind of hard to follow sometimes. But I did find it interesting to learn about what those other kinds of people believe.
In between all that, we had some delicious on-campus cafeteria food. And we also played "volley ball" which i never got around to taking pictures of - because believe it or not, I was actually playing too. ;)
One day they arranged for all the people in the conference to go the nearby (ten blocks or so) park. They had a pool and slides and a walking trail and some nice scenery... We walked the mile there and went for a walk after lunch. Then we got lost and walked back. By that time they had mysteriously closed the pool and so we walked back. All in all it was probably about four or five miles all crammed together which was kind of a pain. but after that we went and found the Scranton sign from The Office. They put it in a mall and got a new sign. Can you believe it?
Thursday they had karaoke after church and that was pretty fun. Then a couple of us just sat outside talking together by the water fountain which was cool....
The last day was pretty tough. Because leaving and going back home is always the hardest part for me. Back to having no friends to hang out with whenever, back to having no where to be, back to being always just slightly, vaguely suspicious of the people who walk down the street.
The great thing about the conference was that everyone was so nice. Everybody there was a Lutheran and I was never intimidated by anyone or felt like they'd start a fight or mug me if I looked at them the wrong way or something. I just felt safe and very comfortable. And, I know no one will ever believe me, but I introduced myself to people :P I was a bit more outgoing than normal... It was really cool. I went up and talked to this guy I didnt even know, because my mom said his mom said to tell her to tell me to tell him HI. So I actually engaged in conversation instead of just saying hi. Which is like, amazing for me. Considering I didnt really even know him and I'm usually the shyest person on the planet. But you'd never be able to tell if you saw me at Scranton, except for the first day we were there. But it felt good to just relax and talk to people. I kind of wish it could always be the way it was at the conference. Different people who were nice, all around me, places to go, new exciting things to learn. Church to go to every day, friends to hang out with. I felt good, constantly. And not crabby like I do when I get stuck at home with my four younger siblings. Don't get me wrong, I love my family but when I'm stuck with my siblings twenty four seven, they get really uber annoying. When I get to see other people I'm in a better mood and they dont have to be around me all the time, and they're in a better mood...
There's always next year. Until then, I have email and facebook. :/ The theme next year is Sola, meaning Alone.
By Grace Alone By Faith Alone By Scripture Alone
Soli Deo gloria
Soli Deo gloria
