"5 Small Things Friday" No. 3

Visit this post to learn about "5 Small Things Friday".

Two of my things are from today, instead of last Friday through yesterday, but since I came up with this "5 Small Things Friday" idea, I guess I can bend the rules :) . And these two seemed to fit the idea better than other things that happened this past week.

My list this week:

1. Sight: Rebelutionaries.

2. Hearing: "Jesus Christ is Lord."

3. Smell: Cold Autumn air.

4. Taste: A gingerbread man.

5. Touch: A hug with Mrs. Renae.


The stories behind the list:

1. I'm working on a post relating the amazing experience of being at the last "Do Hard Things" Conference of the last Rebelution Tour. What a blessing! I'll try to post soon.
We got to the church early, and the huge church building and campus was already buzzing with activity. There were groups of sunny, fresh-faced teenagers with huge smiles (and that early in the morning too!), waiting to greet us in the parking lot and at the doors as we walked into the building, teenagers behind the registration table, teenagers giving directions, teenagers handing out the keypads we'd need for interaction during some of the sessions, teenagers manning the book tables, teenagers running equipment, teenagers praying, teenagers there for the conference. I only saw a handful of adults in actual positions of coordination or leadership during the whole event - almost everything was handled by young people, whether pre-teens, teenagers, or those in their early twenties. It was a breathtaking experience - all these hundreds of busy young people were here for THIS!

2. To hear each tiny voice make a distinct echo in that huge room - it was so powerful. Listening to "...the harvest come in."
A young girl, "Jesus Christ is Lord." A college-age young man, "Jesus Christ is Lord." A small boy, "Jesus Christ is Lord." Two friends in unison, "Jesus Christ is Lord." A mom, "Jesus Christ is Lord."
"Jesus Christ is Lo..." "Jesus Chri..." "Jesus Christ is ..." "Jesus Christ is Lord."
Then that one final thunderous shout as we all join together - hundreds of voices proclaim, "JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!"
Gives me chills all over, just remembering. Even when I'm old and my mind may be gone otherwise, I hope this is one memory that stays with me all my life.

3. Last night Mom went outside to get something out of Dad's truck. I offered to get it for her, but I was already in my pajamas, so she wouldn't let me. But I hung out the front door waiting for her, soaking up the chilling air. I blew out my breath into clouds that billowed like fog against the black sky. I closed my mouth and breathed deep and long of the pure cold air, and felt it fill me all the way down to my toes. It was exhilarating!

4. Today all I had for lunch (well, until late afternoon anyway) was a Little Debbie gingerbread man and some milk. I know, why eat store-bought when my Mom is such a great cook?! Because several boxes of these conveniently-individually-wrapped gingerbread men were given to us, because I was at school and these cookies are already wrapped and I can just grab one for a snack, because my Mom has not had time to make gingerbread for quite a while, and because these store-bought ones are very good, I've got to admit! Gingerbread is great - it gives you just that "little something sweet" you want at meal time, but it's not terribly overloaded with unhealthy ingredients.

5. Dear Mrs. Renea. I'll tell you a secret - I didn't really like her when we first started going to Victory Rd. That's horrible, I know, but they say confession is good for the soul. Now I can't think why I didn't always love her! Probably because I just didn't understand her. She is very quirky, but aren't we all (especially at Victory Rd. - we seem to attract "extreme" personalities :D )?! She is so fun and lively, yet so sweet and wise. Today there were a bunch of us from the church and Victory Rd. Christian Academy working on a fundraiser for VRCA and Mrs. Mandy was the one in charge. Long story short, things were getting hectic, and I think it was one of those "I just want to sit down and cry" moments for Mrs. Mandy. We were all busy and running around like crazy, but at one point she came to grab something that was near where I was, and I just reached out and gave her a quick one-arm squeeze to try to cheer her up. She pressed her nose against the side of my face and hugged me back - hard :) .