Team 7: Regardless of Age
Greetings from the Windy City!
We arrived in Chicago on February 16th and have been going strong ever since! We have had mostly junior high retreats lately, which are a favorite among several teammates. They definitely keep us on our toes but we love their energy and enthusiasm for life. It’s wonderful to watch the youth throw themselves into every activity and how God can speak truth through young minds. It is a continual reminder that as God says in Jeremiah 1:7-9, He can and will work through anyone, no matter what his or her age, if they are open to His voice.
We have had a difficult past two weeks as we had to send one of the girls, Teresa, home for a few weeks of rest. She hit her head back in November and is still having terrible headaches. The doctors recommended that if she rested with limited activity for 3 weeks, she should be back at 100% in no time. It’s been really hard… a part of our family is now missing, but it has been a lesson on what true
love really means. As hard as it was to say goodbye to her back in Minnesota, we wouldn’t change it. We are so grateful that Teresa is having the opportunity to rest and regain strength. Praise God that it’s only for 3 weeks. We are counting down the days until she is back with us!
We had some excitement last week. We were driving on Interstate 294 on our way to the next retreat site during rush hour when a passing truck motioned to us that something was wrong with our trailer. We pulled over right away and discovered that the tongue of the trailer had completely broke. We attempted to get to the next exit by driving along the shoulder but we didn’t get more than 100 ft and the trailer was dragging on the ground. Everyone was saying prayers of thanksgiving that we were able to make it to the shoulder safely and that we didn’t hurt anyone. The guys got out to evaluate the situation while the rest of us sat in the van and prayed for their safety. Eventually, after a bunch of calls to the NET Center, it was decided that we needed to call a tow truck company for a flat bed truck to pick up our poor trailer, which we named “Pio.” We have a joke that started back on the first days as a team. Everywhere we go, someone will call out after a few minutes of driving, “I have a team announcement: We still have Pio!” So what’s the first thing that happens after we get Pio on the flat bed and take off for the church? Betsy says, “I have a team announcement… we don’t have Pio!” Everyone laughed and talked about how we all knew we would lose Pio one day. It was an adventure but we were very blessed to find a welder the next day who came over to the church and fixed up Pio right in the parking lot. God is so good!
We were blessed with the opportunity to stay with the Billing and Bartley families for our Oasis retreat! It was awesome getting to know all of them and just relax. We learned more about how to relate better to each other in day-to-day team life, how our different personalities can work together to create a well balanced team and most importantly, how to love one another more fully through Christ. It was a beautiful time of laughter, prayer and renewal of our mission. We are so thankful to the Billings and Bartleys for opening up their homes and hearts to us. You guys are the best and we can’t wait to see y’all again in a few weeks!
Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to travel across the states. We will be in the Archdiocese of Chicago for another week before heading up to Wisconsin for a weekend, and then starting the drive out to New Jersey! Also, please pray that we will continue to grow as a team as we walk through this season of Lent together.
God bless,
Laura, Jessica, Betsy, Teresa, Rachel, Lucy, Eric, Brandon, Benjamin, Nate and Joshua
