This past weekend, I had so many amazing experiences at the Higher Education and Leadership Ministries retreat in Banning Mills, Georgia. As I am currently a second year, I have heavily reflected on how different this retreat was from the first one last year. I thrive on person-to-person interaction, and that was something that COVID took from me. Being able to gather with such amazing people in person was simply amazing.
While there are so many moments I could share with you, there is one in particular from this retreat when I was moved beyond words. Rachel, one of the graduating HELM Fellows, goes to a church called The Galileo Church in Fort Worth, Texas. While getting to know Rachel, she spoke so much about how accepting her church is. So, during our final night’s devotional time, Rachel led us in an activity that really moved me. She started by saying the five main focuses of her church’s mission:
- We do justice for LGBTQ+ humans and support the people who love them.
- We do kindness for people with mental illness and in emotional distress and celebrate neurodiversity.
- We do beauty for our God-Who-Is-Beautiful.
- We do real relationship, seeking to be authentic with one another.
- We do whatever it takes to share this good news with the world God still loves.
During this devotional time, Rachel asked those who felt called to do so to say something that was worth celebrating in their life. This could have been absolutely anything: a drastic change in your life, an academic achievement, a new relationship, or recognizing how much you have changed during a devastating situation in your life. I couldn’t help but cry through this entire devotional time because this past year and a half of my life has had so many ups and downs, but in that moment I was able to lift up to God everything that had weighed heavy on my heart. While I did not share anything out loud, I internally reflected on all the ways I have grown in the past year and a half, all the moments I stopped to count my blessings, and all the people in my life who have shown me what real love and acceptance look like. Rachel really changed something in me during that devotional time, and for that, I am forever grateful for her friendship.