Almost Ready

It's less than 24 hours until our College Mexico team hits the friendly skies! I cannot tell you all how excited I am for this trip. There are a few reasons for that. First of all, as a high school pastor, one of the hardest moments for me is graduation. It's a bittersweet time for me as I get so excited for what God will do during the next chapter of a student's story, but I also get sad because I know I have to let them go. It's never easy, I always cry, and even though I know relationships continue in college, it's just not the same. This is not a bad thing, mind you, because there are new freshman waiting at the starting gate...waiting to experience high school...and I get to have a front row seat for four years as they grow, fall, succeed, fail, and become the young men and women God has created them to be. And then in four years, I have to say goodbye again. This is the inevitable cycle of youth ministry, and it can be emotionally draining.
So my initial excitement, as you can probably gather, comes from the fact that this trip is made up of college students and high school seniors who just graduated. I am pumped to spend a week with some folks that I don't get to see all that often. And even better...I get to spend a week with them doing what I feel like God has called each of us to do...serve orphans and widows in their distress. I am extremely anticipatory of all God will do when we are down in Cancun this next week, both in the lives of the people we are going to serve, but ultimately in the hearts of my college students.
The second reason I am excited to head to Cancun this week is because I know the types of conversations I will be having with these students. If you know any of them you know they can hang on a pretty deep level. They are not interested in staying on the surface and just letting life pass them by. They want to go deep. They want to ask tough questions. They want to dialogue about the deep things of God and grown through them. This makes me smile from ear to ear. I can't wait to begin having these conversations and being changed by them.
So, please join me in praying this week. Yes, pray for our safety and pray for our health...but more importantly, pray for our ability to be led, life change for both those we come in contact with and within our own hearts, and a willingness to serve in whatever capacity is needed.
Thanks for your partnership with us. Stay tuned for posts from our students starting tomorrow night!!
Amy