- Sonlife 2014-
Beaches, Beer, Bro's and Babes
03-21-14 & 03-28-14
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"After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves." Luke 10:1-3
The Lord sent me out this past spring break to the beaches of Florida, with the intention of using me to minister to the students who visit Panama City Beach. I went to Florida with eighteen other people, and just as Jesus sent his disciples out in two's, we were also sent out in two's. We were given the opportunity to be Christ's instruments for the week, revealing the Lord's mercy and His desire to come to know us in a greater way.
We had been meeting since January, and the team had been formed even longer than that. God knew what we were being called to do, and we tried, to the best of our abilities, to do that. We were called to love, and it was beautiful to see how easy the Lord made it.
A week long journey, Sonlife was one of those trips that left a lifetime impact. Though we were down in Florida to do mission work, it felt like a retreat, with my soul being constant nourished, especially through the wonderful gift of the Holy Mass.
I truthfully did not have a defining moment during the trip, but one thing I will not forget was the goodness of the people I came in contact with. Although the majority of the college kids that go to PCB are there to party, which includes drunkenness, promiscuity, sexual immorality, drugs, etc. none of them should be defined by these things. On the outside, it was very easy for me to see the men and women there and be sad, upset, discussed even. Once I was able to talk to them though, my whole outlook changed. A guy who may have just been harassing a girl to get something out of her would blow my mind a minute later, when he spilled forth wisdom even he probably did not know he had. It was just that type of trip. The people I encountered were flawed, and all need work in some way, but at the heart of the matter, they are just men and women on the same life path as myself, striving for happiness.
The biggest thing for me was the consolation I was able to experience when I thought about how deeply I wanted the people at PCB to know the Lord, and then realizing how much more God himself desires it. God does not quit on us, and never will. In Corinthians it says, "Love is patient," and I look at that and realize that it means that whatever I end up doing, God is going to always be pursing me, and always fighting for my heart. In knowing that, I am able to rest easy, and accept that though I didn't have any life changing conversations, God can still do wonders with the seeds I planted.
Isn't that neat.
God is good!
"He died for me, so I will live for Him."
