Mountain Trip

What an amazing few days! Mikey and I got back from Tennessee just last night after spending a few days in the mountains with 16 other members of the core team for Genesis, the college-age ministry we are both involved in. We arrived late Wednesday night, went exploring and laser-tagging on Thursday, went on a crazy mountain hike on Friday, and came home on Saturday. It was a jam-packed few days, and I loved every minute! The whole experience was covered in prayer and a desire to come to know God better (including his role at Genesis and his role in our own lives). Here are a few of the highlights from the trip:

• Discussing the body of Christ. Rodney asked if we would be missed at Genesis, and many of us replied, "hopefully yes but maybe not." Rodney and Oscar both spoke passionately about how important every part of Christ's body is. We can't all be teachers, or encouragers, or listeners, but together, we can all make up Christ's body! We are all replaceable in the sense that God's will is done with or without us, but we are all so important and will be missed as unique and wonderful parts of Christ's body! I also got to bring in a little science knowledge by sharing the Gate Control Theory of Pain and Touch (which says that the same neurons responsible for signaling pain also signal touch, so there is an adaptive reason for covering our wounds. in the same way, the healthy parts of Christ's body should be covering and "touching" with love and encouragement those parts of the body that are injured or in pain!)
• Reading on my own time. I got a couple of hours each day where I snuck away to read a couple of books, as well as reading my Bible. The two books I was reading were So Long Insecurity by Beth Moore and Next Door Savior by Max Lucado. Both books are extremely encouraging, and both reminded me of the importance of finding my worth in God, not in any accomplishments or any person. They also reminded me of the accessibility of God. God became a human being to know what we are going through in this life and to save us from death and pain!
• Talking with some amazing people. I was lucky enough to have a few great conversations with some really great people. I got a chance to catch up with Baillie (an anti-blogger, but don't hold that against her) and Chelsie about married life and all of that good stuff. I also had a lot of great convos with my friend Sarah. She and her husband Billy rode in our car everywhere, so we had plenty of time to talk about lots of things, ranging from our love of knowledge to our favorite things to the importance of communication, etc. I am so blessed to have so many great and encouraging friends around me!
• Having some time with my wonderful husband. Mikey and I have both been incessantly busy for the past couple of weeks, and we enjoyed a much needed respite from the rush of normal life. We got to have a lot of great conversations, and we got to just goof off, enjoying each others' company without the distractions of work and homework around. Mikey is constantly amazing me with his ability to love and to give of himself, and so often I don't even realize it!