Princeton was a success!!

No one can argue that Princeton Weekend did not rock the house. Over 120 private school students attended from Baltimore to Boston. I had the special privilege of seeing some of these lives up-close and watch their reactions and responses to the messages given at the meetings.

Although sleeping on a mat in a school might not constitute the greatest of pleasures, it was worth it to hang out with these students and participate with them as they search deeply for meaning - beyond getting good grades and keeping up an image.

The session Caitlin and I gave on social justice also I pray, grows some fruit.

NOW to look forward to IVORYTON!! (Another retreat, though a week long, in Ivoryton, CT). Several students I know already plan on attending. HOORAY!! In between now and then our region will be hosting a few Christmas parties for boarding school students which promise to be fun.

Now for some pics from the weekend:

Jamming at the concert

This is where it all went down.

Before we drove off, we all had a good holler. Some song about a wagon wheel?

This was the name of our small group.... Yup! You might not have guessed that we had some very serious and edifying discussions about faith after each of the talks.

Some good friends from Internship One camp where I volunteered this summer. Mostly boarding school kids in this pic!

And my fellow staff mates - who always bring down the house, or knock down the playground, whatever the case may be.

Princeton is around the corner...!

Tomorrow I leave with 3 other students for Princeton University. It is a weekend full of fun, talks and concerts for private school students from Boston to Baltimore. There are over 120 students attending. I myself am giving a special session jointly with my friend Caitlin on the Justice of God. Big topic!! This is in light of our special experiences dealing with poverty and ministry issues in both the States and abroad.

While I am making the mix for our hours long car ride, I reflect on the past few months. In between school meetings and staff meetings - I have helped 2 roommates put an apartment together, hosted a housewarming party, and continued to integrate into our local church in New Haven.

My homegroup from church on Tuesday nights has remained perhaps the biggest blessing of my months here. We meet two houses away in the upstairs apartment of a young couple who lived in Turkey for a few years. Among the 15 or so people in our group is a missionary kid from Hong Kong, a young woman who did campus ministry in Belarus, and couples who have lived abroad in Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Bangladesh. We bring our experiences together every tuesday night and lay them together before the Lord, waiting expectantly for healing and receiving assuredly of His comfort and encouragement.

We've adopted a motto as we've searched through these issues: "Things we've done, things done to us, and things that just happened."

More importantly, I believe we have really come to learn more about how the Grace of God operates - how it leads us in the varied situations we've experienced, how it is brought us through these situations, and how this grace continues to teach us lessons and empowers us to live lives that are even more Christ-centered than we imagined.

As I close asking prayers for this weekend, I want to leave you with some stellar shots of the past few months!

In a field after apple-picking with my staffmates!! Kendra and Liz

I bought a fisheye camera for my birthday. This is one of the photos I took of some girls from Ethel Walker school when we went out to dinner.

A friend I made this summer

Emma Willard's gorgeous campus

After a bible study with some Emma Willard girls

Hysterically laughing with some "fellows" at our FOCUS fellows retreat

All of the FOCUS staff fellows. For some reason I look really small in this photo..?