Things I Discovered.

I am coming down off of the emotions that resulted from spending the weekend volunteering at a youth retreat at church. I am happily exhausted, and deliriously in love with an overwhelming God. Before I curl up under the covers, without setting an alarm (joy!) I wanted to take a minute and document some truly wonderful moments from the weekend while the emotion is still so raw.

First of all, I was asked, along with my friend Daniel, at the start of the weekend to provide prayer support for the youth who were giving talks throughout the retreat. This is not something I entered into lightly. I have been working lately to really be intentional in my prayers, and I have noticed a difference; however, praying aloud, in a group, is not something that is comfortable or easy for me. (Hmmm... could this be one of those challenges from God? He knows I'm just a girl who can't say no... He knows that the only way to get me to push myself to pray out loud is for someone to ask me to do it! And what do you know, it worked.) As a result, I spent some wonderful moments soaking up the presence of God with some really incredible youth. I don't know what to say about these moments. Trying to recall the details of time spent in the presence of God almost seems like I'm exposing a secret that not everyone is privy to. But understanding, no, truly knowing what it feels like to be completely surrounded by His presence, completely enfolded in His embrace... that, my friends, has changed me.

This morning, one particular girl (who, by the way, is incredible and who has become such a sweet friend) gave the sermon in the church service. I accompanied her to the sanctuary to pray over her before her talk, and as we searched for a secluded place to pray we simultaneously remembered the Room Behind the Chapel. To me, this is the official name of the room. The Room Behind the Chapel and I have a history. Although I don't know how old I was when this happened, I remember the day I discovered it. My mom is a private speech therapist, and for years she has used a Sunday school room for speech sessions. As a kid, I loved going to work with her in the summer. The room she used is in the basement of the church, and I would pass the time by exploring the dark hallways and seemingly forgotten rooms. One day when I was feeling particularly brave, I ventured all the way to the end of the hall and up a flight of stairs. I found myself at the back of the chapel (the chapel, by the way, is in my opinion the most beautiful place in our church). And there it was: a plain, unassuming door that led to the most intimate, most holy of places I had ever seen: the Room Behind the Chapel. The delight of the moment when I discovered that room is what has stuck with me through the years; however, I'm sure I spent some time in there that day, sitting in one of the two small pews, kneeling at the altar, flipping the pages in the large Bible. During my years in the youth group, I returned quite a few times to the Room Behind the Chapel, sometimes with my small group and sometimes alone. But in recent years, I haven't been back. Who takes the time on a Sunday morning to actually spend time in the holiest of places? (Sarcasm... sorry.)

But this morning, there we were... my friend H, preparing for her talk, and her faithful group of pray-ers. We spent a good amount of time in the Room, just talking with each other, feeling God's presence, and eventually praying for H. After she left to change into her "sermon outfit," the rest of us stayed in the Room for some additional quiet fellowship. As the theme of the weekend was prayer, we decided to close our time together by praying the Lord's Prayer together. That moment was so powerful, so... surprisingly, calm and energetic at the same time. Hand in hand, we stood and recited those words, the words first spoken by Jesus Christ himself, learned and revered and repeated by generations, with excitement and passion in our voices. When we finished, a fellow pray-er said he felt as if Jesus was hanging over his shoulder, as a good buddy would, the whole time we were in prayer. Another pray-er felt the same thing. What an incredible moment! I feel very much in times like these, as I look into the excited faces of my fellow believers, that we are a part of something so big, so revolutionary, so blessed. If only everyone could understand the excitement we followers of Christ feel when we share these experiences! This is a secret that everyone should be privy to!

After H's sermon, which was wonderful, I returned to the Room Behind the Chapel to pray again with H and a few girls. The small room was filled once again with the spirit of God, but our mood was lighthearted and a bit giddy. This was a moment of thanksgiving for H delivering an inspirational message, but it was also a bittersweet moment for the senior girls who were experiencing their last prayer chapel time on their last youth retreat. Our prayer was less formal and more of a conversation with Jesus, our friend. We got off topic, we whispered about who was supposed to pray next, we giggled when prayers of thanksgiving for seemingly silly things were offered up. Rachel, a youth whom I have mentioned before, said it best: "Guys, we're laughing during prayer. How fun is that?!" She said that mid-prayer, of course. And I couldn't agree more: praying, spending time talking to my God, my best friend, the one whom I love, is fun.

Thanks be to God for a wonderful weekend; for things shared and things discovered, and things that are to come.