Preparations

The first month and a half of LifeTeen has certainly been exciting - which is strange to say. Not because its been exciting, but because its only been a month and a half. It seems like this has been going on for much longer, and part of that may be due to the retreat that is fast approaching.

And its something we are definitely excited about. On November 20th, 21st, and 22nd, only two months after LifeTeen began this year, 125 teenagers about 20 adults will spend time in prayer, community, and the sacraments at Green Lake Conference Center.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the number.

Not because it looks good for other people or because we can say, "Oh, look at what a great job we are doing!" But because I am astounded that this many teenagers would say "I want to spend a weekend away to work on my relationship with God. Of all the things I could be doing that weekend, I want to do this. This is what is important."

That blows my mind.

It also scares me.

For a brief moment I think that I have to put together something spectacular for these teenagers so they have this life changing weekend and come back as perfect saints. So that on Monday morning they are all at 6:30 am mass before school. And for the rest of the year they go to every LifeNight and bring their friends.

But I realize quickly that it isn't about what I'm going to bring.

God is bringing something way bigger.

Will the teens come back as perfect saints? No. They will still struggle with sin like we all do, and may even fall along the way. But I believe that God is going to lead them all a lot further on their journey to sainthood.

Will some of them go to morning mass? Possibly. Will they all attend every LifeNight and start evangelizing their friends? Who knows?

What I do know is that God has called 125 teenagers to grow deeper in their faith and root their identity more fully in Him. What God's plan is for that I cannot know, but I know it has to be something big.

Way bigger than what I've got planned for the weekend. And so its pretty awesome we all get to be a part of.

So, as we prepare in these last two weeks before the retreat I would invite you to keep us all in your prayers - from the teens who will be attending to the team who will be planning, to the priests who will be administering the sacraments that weekend. We are going to need the prayers - not for it to be a great weekend, but for us to be able to keep up with the great plans God has.

We are looking forward to it.