Inspiration

When I was in high school I was very involved in the youth group in my church. There are a couple of people who might be reading this who were involved right there with me. Hi guys. My involvement started out at the local level in the church that we went to. We belonged to what was then a very large and active church. We had a youth leader who was also very active. She introduced those of us who were willing to be introduced, to the joys of being a young person who was involved in the church. This youth leader also got us involved in the state activities for our church. We went to retreats and activites all over the state of Iowa. I can't remember how many weekends we spent at Pilgrim Heights Camp, here in Iowa, having what are now some of the most awesome memories that I have of my teenage years. From those weekends spent on the lake, in cabins, around campfires, with other youth from around the state, I went on to be a part of the first state youth council for our church. That got me involved in even more state functions. Trips to Des Moines, to Grinnell, more trips to Pilgrim Heights; trips on a Greyhound bus, trips in our green church van, trips in the youth leader's Volkswagon van... we traveled all over the state. I ended up writing the state news letter for the youth of our state who belonged to our church, along with another youth from Keokuk who was on the council with me. It was an amazing experience.

Along with the state activities, I got very involved in camps and retreats and activites throughout the midwest. One summer I spent some time in South Dakota, working on an Indian Reservation, painting and cleaning and working to make the parsonage more liveable for the tiny white church in the middle of the dry, flat, rattle snake infested land where we were. We swam and bathed in the river close by. We used an outhouse, but never went there alone, beause rattle snakes were a very real threat. We plugged the refridgerator into a light bulb outlet in the main room of the building we stayed in, because there was no electricity in the kitchen. We pumped water, by hand, to use in the kitchen. And, one glorious night, we slept outside, under the stars, and watched a meteor shower. There were no lights for miles around, so the meteors were bright and brilliant and we lay awake for hours watching the natural show. And when we woke up in the morning there was a herd of wild horses grazing around us.

I spent time two summers in a row in Southern Missouri, in the Ozark mountains, working at a camp there. We blazed trails through the woods for the camp, we cut fire wood and cleaned and worked. We also played. There were canoe trips and cave splunking. There were natural water slides that we spent hours sliding down and landing in the clear water of a pool. There were many cannon balls and swan dives made off of banks of creeks and rivers.

There was the time I went to Minnesota, for the first time the only person from my church to go, and went to a National convention for youth from my church. We learned about so many people of different nations and backgrounds. I had my picture taken in dress from many different lands. And I shared a room with another girl from Iowa who was awesome. I remember the night that I had gone to bed early... we were staying in a college dorm... and she came in much later than I. She didn't turn any lights on, trying not to wake me, and ended up tripping over my bed and landing on top of me. I screamed and screamed and screamed. And then... we giggled and giggled and giggled and laughed and talked and didn't get a whole lot of sleep at all.

I don't remember where this next event took place, but I do remember that Andrew Young was the guest speaker. It was right after the mandatory draft sign up had just gone into place. Wherever we were, we were sitting in a crowd on the floor, listening to Andrew Young speak and it was raining. There were lots of tears and a great feeling of togetherness.

Then there was the time that we went to Colorado, to the National Youth Assembly. What a trip! 4 youth and 2 adults from our trip went, in our church's green van. We camped out along the way and stayed in a large camp ground, with dormatories, in Colorado. We climed a mountain... and I fell down it. We ate yummy food.... and I passed out waiting in line the first morning. It was awesome!

What all of these things have in common, for me anyway, is the way that they made me feel. From snipe hunting and sleeping around a campfire, to carrying a canoe to a lake near the campground, to traveling and meeting new people, to all of the other things that I experienced, there is one common thread. The great feeling of excitement and joy I had about my church and my part in that church. Whether I was cutting trees in Missouri.... and sawing my finger... or painting and cleaning in South Dakota.... I was having fun and helping out and experiencing some of the best sense of community that I've ever experienced.

I remember being in a huge group of people at a service in Colorado, where the music was like nothing we'd ever had in Keokuk. There was almost rock music... drums and guitars and microphones for the vocalists. I was moved literally to tears. Tears of joy and of peace.

That same church that fostered all of those feelings and experiences for me when I was a teenager has changed. Times have changed, but that church has not. The few people who are left there are good people, but they are not people who easily change. There is no youth group there any longer. There is no one there to inspire the youth, to lead them to find joy and peace and to be moved to tears.

When I moved back to Keokuk this time, I decided to try a different church. I had visited a church with an old friend of mine on a trip back last fall. I was impressed. And I didn't think that I would be. Super large churches had always seemed to me a bit impersonal. I didn't think that a very large church would be able to show individual attention to the people who worshipped there. I was wrong.

Now I go to this very large, very active church. I go there because I am inspired like I was as a teenager. I sing with the drums and the guitars and loud music. I am moved to tears by the feelings that are invoked in me at the services there that I attend. I sit beside an old friend and giggle about old times. I have only begun to scratch the surface of this church and what it offers. I go to one service a weekend. There are 3 more that I could attend. I have yet to attend an event during the week. I have yet to do more than go to this one service. But, from that one service I feel so very welcomed and peaceful and inspired and joyful that I can't imagine worshipping anywhere else.

This church is in an old WalMart building. The transfomation from a mega store to a church is amazing. And the transformation of people who walk through those doors is equally amazing. In more ways than one I feel like I've come home.