Beauty from Ashes: TREX '08, Saturday

Saturday we packed up and left! The whole family came to pick up Andy and me, because we went straight to Illinois from there. It was somewhat sad saying goodbye, but we signed each others books so we would be able to forever remember all the fun we had. ;)

I learned so much this week. Aside from all the extreme things we did, and the fun of getting to know new people, God really was present in everything we did. Each morning, we had personal devotion time on a select passage of scripture. We looked at I Corinthians 9:18-27, Philippians 3:12-4:1, and Hebrews 11:1-3, 23-32, and 12:1-3. Each one stressed "going for the gold" and perservering in our walk with Christ, being totally dedicated to Him in each and every aspect of life. After breakfast we always had worship and a lesson, and then one in the evening after dinner as well. Pastor Greg from West Virginia was the speaker all week, and he was terrific. Our morning sessions were a series on "How to be a Stupid Teen". . . the topics were things like "surround yourself with idiots", "love the world", and "allow your heart to become a garbage dump". He had just the right balance of funny stories and serious concepts. Then our evening sessions were on the scripture passage of the day. . . the one I remember most was "Paul's Strategy for Outreach". It was really encouraging each and every day, to be with so many teens who were also sincere about their faith. My counselor, Emily, was amazing. She did an evening devotion with us just before "lights out" every night, and challenged us in a different way each night.

So all in all, I am so glad the guys made me go. :) It was a memorable experience, that is for sure!

~Becky Boo

P.S. The credit for all these photos goes to other people. . .I took a camera and didn't get it out until the last day! But Hannah Sue, Mark, Sam, Allison, and several other people were taking pictures and have kindly shared them with everyone. Thanks guys!

Juan, the camp director