My trusty morning meteorologist Andy Avalos commented mid-forecast that today was going to be the kind of day that got the Carpenters down--another rainy Monday. Though I admit that I'm succeptible to such environmental influences myself at times, no amount of dreariness can get me down today after an incredible weekend spent in Lake Geneva with the young adult ministry from my church.
I can't really point to any one thing about the retreat and say, "that's what made it so great." It was more just being together and a succession of simple things--non-events, really, like conversations that just beautifully unfolded in the moment, or a story that left me laughing so hard I gasped for breath, or catching out of the corner of my eye a mosaic of wet leaves strewn across the pavement whose artistry stopped me in my tracks, or seeing in others' eyes a thirst for God and a yearning for a tender heart--that exposed me again to the joy of community and the reality that God is at work and will be found by us as we earnestly seek His face.
As the weekend came to a close and the "magic retreat bubble" was about to be broken, I felt just a little bit like Peter when the glory of the transfiguration began to fade away: "Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters..." I love that Luke clarifies "He did not know what he was saying." Driving away from camp, I knew that it had been so good for us--for me--to be there, but beyond that I really didn't know what to say. I knew God had shown up in His glory, but I think it's going to take me a few days outside the bubble to sort through what He's revealed.
I'm headed up to Minneapolis in the morning for work, so I'll have 12 hours in a car with my boss to get started on that.
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