I know I’m still trying to catch up with everything God did this past weekend at The Gathering Fall Retreat.  I’ve been thinking about everything He did since I got home yesterday evening and I still find myself smiling at random times today as I’m reminded of yet one more great thing that happened this weekend.  There are so many things to celebrate:

- Four main sessions that were the home to some of the most passionate worship I’ve experienced in a long, long time.  Forget just singing songs, you guys were worshipping Jesus with everything you had and I loved every minute of it.

- A pretty awesome hike.  Who knew you could say that about a hike that went essentially nowhere?!!?

- Amazing conversations.  I loved hearing students talking about God all weekend long – what He’s doing on campus, what He’s doing in our lives and where He’s molding us and challenging us.

- Who could forget Saturday night?  I’ll always love the memory of seeing you guys spread out all over that field in worship, huddled together to pray with a friend, facedown in private prayer, taking communion and soaking in the stunning beauty of God’s creation.

- 2.15AM worship servie.  We thought four sessions would be good for the weekend.  Who knew that would leave us one short and you would fill in the gap at 2.15 in the morning!

- I’ve got to say this one out loud: I love our staff team, our band, tech crew and our volunteers.  I think you would agree they are a pretty amazing bunch.  I’m blown away that I get to serve with such an amazing group.

I could go on and on.  But I really just wanted to say thanks this afternoon – thanks for coming to West Virginia for the weekend.  Thanks for diving into the experience with everything you had.  Thanks for being some of the greatest students on the planet.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for next year.  But for now, go live out everything we talked about this weekend!!

John