Three weeks of travel, longing for continuity

It has been a long three weeks of back-to-back retreat weekends and group projects. Logistically, the past month has been a nightmare trying to get to planning meetings and one-on-one meetings with students.

I was lucky enough to spend the first weekend of November on a Halftime Retreat with the Intersections Project of Boston College. This weekend is dedicated to helping students find their vocation. My job on this retreat was to prepare a team of eight undergrads to lead their groups and give powerful talks. The experience was priceless. It was challenging at times trying to meet people at all hours of the day and night. A few meetings went past 10:30 p.m. and my work schedule required that I be up and ready to go at 8:30 a.m. the next morning. It was a little brutal, but definitely worth it.

The relationships I forged on that retreat certainly strengthened my desire to continue in ministry with young people and college students.

Last weekend I was on retreat with Salt and Light. This group is my contextual ed placement through the STM. My job is to spend about eight hours a week with that program working on a variety of tasks and meeting with students. I had a minimal role on this retreat and prepared the team building activities. Working with this retreat reminded me of retreats I would have gone on in high school. There were fun games and activities. And our snack spread was pretty delicious.

Those who know me asked if I was ready to spend back-to-back weekends on retreat and I said, ‘Yes.’ It took huge amounts of energy to peddle through the second week, but the emotional returns were powerful. It is never ideal to spend consecutive weekends away from graduate studies, but somehow it worked in the end.

Now, I’m working on a 5-page paper at the Syracuse Airport for the next few hours. I’m awaiting a few folks before I head to a rehearsal dinner for my friend’s wedding. I’ve seen three different states of the country in three weeks and even more important, I was able to engage in relationships and conversations with various people, which is something I certainly will cherish these last few weeks of the semester.

Oh, and I’m really looking forward to spending a weekend in Boston.