Ohio Once Again!

We're on the road, and will be back in about an hour. Woooo! SLEEP! 

Yesterday was super bittersweet as we had to leave the people we were serving. Everyone made such strong connections it was incredible listening to the stories of 8 year old foster kids crying on the floor, begging them please, don't go. 

There has been so many changes in everyone. Some people, they have one HUGE transformation that occurred in them, and in others (like myself), there were many small changes and transformations that were brought through us this week. 

I'm praying SO HARD that everyone will live out their transformations. That they won't go back home and conform to the ways of the world, but rather they will go back to continue the changes made in them. There are so many amazing people, with an incredible amount of potential that they have already starting living out, or will (hopefully) in the near future. 

But also, this week I realized that everyone blooms at different times. There are so many variables that effect the process of growing into the beautiful flower everyone has in them. The soil the seed was planted in, the amount of sunlight they see in there lives, how many nutrients are fed to them, and what's in the water they are given. There's also the factor of how vulnerable and open they are to everything they are given. When you put a flower in a vase you can cut the stem at an angle, or spilt the stem a small amount at the end, which allows that flower to absorb more good or bad things at whatever stage they are through the growing process.

There were some very raw and open people this week, and I think that encouraged and inspired everyone else to share the truth of what they were feeling are thinking.

I'm SO incredibly thankful that I got to share this week with some of my very favorite people. From crying rivers together on a room, to buying habanero ghost pepper cheese, to laughing historically at how insane everyone was while they were being themselves. 

Thank you to all the leaders this week. I can't even explain how much I love each and every one of them. They're hilarious and super inspiring in SO many ways. 

I'm so thankful for the crew that I was put with. Everyone was incredibly encouraging while I was devotion leader this week, and it was never uncomfortable. Getting to know everyone in such a deep way was super awesome. There are so many things that I learned about everyone, that I don't think a lot of people get to know about them which is an honor.

And thank you to all of you that followed along throughout the week, praying for us and thinking about us. We really couldn't have done this without all of your support.

This week was incredible. 

Darby

Vamos a la Playa!

Well wasn't that amazing?! Ahhh man... yeah it was. 

Today was our free day after we arrived back from our day of serving. We hopped right back on the hot enough to bake a turkey-bus, and drove over to American Adventure Territory. I'm assuming you have absolutely no clue what that is, and I don't plan on telling you... JUST KIDDING! Haha, it's a place with go-karts, mini golf, lazed tagging, bumper boats, and arcade.

That place was super fun, and lazer tagging is a LOT more fun than I ever though it would be. The arcade got (almost) everyone lots of fake tattoos, and the bumper boats made everyone a "little" bit wet. Put-putting was a BLAST, even though some people has to share a ball because they may have lost it on the second hole in the water. We got a laugh out is that! 

After everyone got their share of excitement and decided they were pretty hunger, we hopped on the toaster bus once again and took a little trip to an old fashion burger place to eat. That was also pretty cool.

Then after we were finished there, we took another little trip to the beach. The beach was BY FAR my favorite. Of course their were the ones that decided to jump into the freezing cold lake, but we had an incredibly amazing worship time.

We had originally planned to just sing a couple songs and then do our youth group devotions, but we ended up worshiping the entire time. Personally, I was SUPER happy that we chose to do that. I could listen to a group of people joining together to worship the AMAZING God for houuurrrssss. It's an amazing feeling and the songs really speak to me in a way that I can't explain. It was really nice to just stand in a circle listening to the emotions of everyone around you with the waves crashing against the beach in the background.

Just.. Wow. 

Anyways, we are currently on our way back to the church, and I can't wait to have a mini jam sesh with the girls like we did last night.

We just pulled in the parking lot and I really must run!

Goodnight,

Darby 

Día Dos

I attempted to blog last night, but I also really enjoy sleep. Sorry about that! 

So far the relationships within the youth group have grown immensely and many emotions have opened up. Over the course of 24 hours there were an INCEDIBLE amount of God sightings and just so many moments of witnessing Godliness in others. 

We all consist of 4 groups (crews). Crew 1 goes to Water's Edge- a rehab center for dimensia and Alzheimer's patients. Crew 2 goes to Harmony Kenosha- an assisted livings facility. Crew 3 goes to Eastern Seal- an adult daycare center. And crew 4 is going to the YMCA- working with kids. Everyone has had positive feedback of some kind, and there are many challenges being faced in different ways.

I'm apart of Crew 2 (Harmony Kenosha), and yesterday the day consisted of helping with activities such as hitting a balloon around a circle, reading the newspaper to a group of residents, tossing a ball back and forth with 2 residents with Alzheimer's, and organizing craft supplies. 

Today we washed windows, helped with bingo, did yoga with a group of residents, and watched a movie with the residents (which is currently playing). Some of us helped pass out popcorn and soda as well. 

It's such a nice feeling to start making connections with residents, as we come back for more than a day. We can put names with faces and stories. While we talk to and ask questions to the residents, we learn about their past and sometimes they remember things about their life that were forgotten. When we were helping with bingo, I paired up with Mary-Ellen and as I was asking questions and talking, she remembered that she used to play violin.

While sometimes it can slightly boring for us, you can see just how happy and excited the residents are to be around us. Like Jenna said last night, we may not have a huge project of building a house that we can take a picture of at the end of the week, but we truly are building SO many relationships with everyone in the youth group and also with the people we are serving.

It's so awesome that everyone has such a drive to serve God, and such a heart for others. When we team together as deciples of God, we can do amazing things. 

There are an insane amount of stories that I could share with all of you already, but I don't think it's possible to share all of them to their full potential over the internet.

Thank you for following us along through the blog, and all of your support.

Talk to you soon!

Darby 

Being a Story of Transformation

This weeks theme being Repair is beginning to show that it has been placed in everyone's life on the right page of their book. During our youth group devotion tonight everyone had a different way of describing ways that they are feeling today and how they can be transfored. 

Every single person has a different story and are all at a different place with God even if they used the same exact word for their transformation. It's super intriguing to think about what is going to happen in everyone's lives as we serve others together, learning about one another, and truly connecting with our church family.

A really big encouragement this week are the Care Cards. CarE CArds (haha!) are short notes that we write to one another about how they see God working in them or various other positive messages. They're all kept in envelopes and then we read them on the way back home. I love it already!

Evening service was pretty awesome! The worship went well, and it was absolutely amazing to be on stage and being able to hear everyone's voices join together to worship God. Like, seriously. It made me immensely happy. I don't even know how to explain it! 

During the service we received our Crew assignments and destinations, including choosing the tasks everyone will be assigned to. In my group I'm assigned to being the devotion leader which I'm both excited and nervous for. (like pretty much everything else) The other roles are Break Maker, Organizer, Progress Reporter, Quartermaster, and Work Director.

But, yeah! This week has a lot in store after our first lights out happening in approximately 9 minutes.

Tomorrow we will wake up at 6:45 and I'll keep you posted on what happening later on (whenever I have time).

Goodnight!

-Daisy 

Jelly Bellies and Arrival

On our joy filled drive to Wisconsin we decided (We as is the leaders) we had enough time to make a pit stop at the Jelly Belly Warehouse. 

We took a lovely tour consisting of riding on a train and MANY videos about the history and making of jelly beans. Fun stuff, man! But we did receive a bag of jelly bellies at the end which were muy delisioso! Some people bought some more at the store, then we had a short drive to the mega church. By the way! The "church", we have decided, is actually a Christian church and I'm staying in the Spanish room!

The arrival was smooth and the room set up was nice. The arrival crew were volunteers from another work camp and they are quite lovely. 

Currently the leaders are at a meeting, the SYFers are hanging out in the rooms or playing in the gym/outside. Dinner is at 5 and I can't even explain how absolutely ecstatic I am for everything we have instore this week.

Thanks for everyone's support :)

-Darby 

And We're off!

The bus has officially been sent on its journey! 

The excitement is buzzing and the music is blasting. You can sense how absolutely amazing this week is going to be. 

From a personal level (this is Darby speaking) I'm BEYOND excited for my first mission trip with the SYF and the first mission trip EVER. I'm so ready to be challenged in new ways and witness the people around me opening up and accepting the challenges they face. There are so many amazing people going to serve others, and I just LOVE seeing everyone laughing and singing in fellowship on our way to the best week of our summer. (At least I hope) 

I'm also SUPER happy with the leaders that are going with us (besides missing the loveliest of them all) Like, GAAHHSNDLAJDBSKS! Every one of them shines God's light in a million miles all around them. You can't help but to smile when they're around. Adam, Jenna, Kyle, Jen, and Chris are the best. This is literally so awesome, and I have extremely high expectations of this week. 

I'll keep you posted about as many events as possible and I have a pretty strong feeling that there will be others filling in as well. 

Keep us all in your prayers throughout the week.

And for the SYFers: 

I'll be back ASAP!

-Darby

The Day Before

We leave tomorrow morning!  It's finally here!  After 8 o'clock worship, we'll pack up and head on out. 

We had a good last meeting Friday and talked about our fears and how we'd tackle them. 

As a group we came up with some commitments we'd like to make for the mission trip:

1. We will respect each other by not "pushing each other" but allow everyone to open up on his/her own.

2. Pray everyday and to encourage each person to be free in Christ.

3. We will have an open mind and open heart to God.

4. We will have our hands open to what God has in store for us.

5. We will encourage one another with verbal care cards.

6. We will give everyone, including ourselves, a clean slate like Christ gives us.