Hello everybody!
Recently, I haven't been posting as often as I used to. I've been really busy this past few weeks. A lot's been happening and I actually want to talk about that.
At the start of the month, I was in Rizal attending my church's youth camp, which was entitled #ohlife. It ran from April 30 until May 3. There, I was one of the "veterans", which just meant that compared to the other campers, I've been to a lot more camps and have a very good idea of what's to come during the camp. It was also my last time attending high school camp because I'm already in my last year of high school, which also means college and college entrance exams (yikes).
I had such an amazing time though. I met a lot of new people! I also got to talk to people who I always see in church but don't really interact that much with. I got to spend time with my youth group which is always fun. My discipler and I finally got to catch up after multiple attempts of having one-on-ones on Saturdays. As usual, there were games that helped the campers grasp the main idea of what the plenaries were about. Even though they weren't meant to be a competition, I was very competitive during the games (one of the photographers said that I have a bunch of photos of me…I can't wait).
Of the three camps that I've been to, this one has to be my favourite. I mean each one taught me something but this one was different for me. Even though I already had an idea of what the passage was about, learning and studying them from a different perspective was really helpful. The plenaries each had a different topic but I still learned a lot from each one. I found myself in awe of God and what He was doing in my life and other people's lives. Attending this camp was such a blessing.
The day I came home from camp was a bit hectic. I was very exhausted from the ride home because I had to sit on the small, folding chair located at the aisle of the bus. I'm a very huge person so that was a struggle. Anyway, when I got home, I had to make sure I was ready for the next day because my college review classes were going to start. That really stressed me out. It's not that I didn't know it would start the day after I come back from camp. It's that it would take up the whole month of May.
I am currently in my fourth and final week of review classes, and I am very happy that it is finally ending. To be quite honest, review was an eye-opener for me. I realised that I needed to study a lot of the things that I learned in the past three years. I realised that stock knowledge won't cut it especially because I can barely recall anything academic from at least two years ago. I also realised that we will make mistakes and fail and that what's important is that we learn from them. The number of tests that I failed in review classes is a lot more than the number of tests that I passed. Do I let that get to me? I used to. Well, it still gets to me, but there's always something to learn and each situation is an opportunity for growth.
Aside from review classes, I've been busy with meetings. A bunch of meetings to be quite honest. Meetings that require lots of planning, creativity, decisions and a more elements that make meetings fun and stressful at the same time. It gets overwhelming when I think about it especially because of my anxiety but I try to look at it from a different point of view. I just think to myself that I'm very blessed to have these opportunities to lead and have meetings because other people didn't or don't have the same kind of opportunities.
If you're still reading at this point, then I really appreciate you for taking the time and effort to read this! I mean I still have a few things to talk about but I hope that you've enjoyed so far and that you'll keep reading. Going back…
Because I'm part of the Worship Team of my church's youth ministry, I usually get assigned to serve at least once a month. This month, I was assigned to sing for last Saturday's youth service, which happened to be Praise and Prayer Night. As the name suggests, Praise and Prayer Night is the youth service that focuses on Praise and Worship and Praying. You might be wondering: shouldn't all services have that and why are you taking so long to write this? I'm getting there don't worry. This service has a lot more Praise and Worship songs than the usual lineup which meant more songs to practice and work on. Let's just say that time wasn't working for our band. Add in the fact that eight songs is very tiring, our band was a bit nervous for the night, but praise God because all went well (I personally thought that the service went well)!
Even if that day was exhausting, I found great joy in serving God that day. Serving God has never been something that I obligated myself to do. I've always viewed it as a privilege that I've been blessed with. At this point, it might seem cliche already but I still think it's true. We're all given opportunities that others don't have. It's best that we make good use of these opportunities for the One who gave these opportunities and I guess for those who don't have them too.
To end, I just want to say that God has a reason for everything (cliche I know but that doesn't make it not true). We just have to trust Him and do our part especially on days when we don't know what's happening and why these things are happening. Thanks for taking the time to read my extremely lengthy post. I really do appreciate the time and effort you gave! I don't usually do these kinds of posts but I do hope you enjoyed nonetheless. That is all I have for you guys today!
Until Next Time!
~Luis~
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