“This is it?” I asked surprisingly. “This is it replied the Deacon.” “Ok, well it wasn’t what we planned but let’s see what we can do with them!” It was a Saturday and the Deacon and myself were at Sacred Heart for the 6 and 7 ^th grade retreat. We had expectations of how many would be there, let’s just say those expectations were not met. However, this blog post is not about unmet expectations, or disappointment. This blog post is about the joy that comes from letting God work his will in his little ways.

Being familiar with the Bible, I know that God has always taken less than what people expected and done great things through those small numbers. Just ask Gideon, or David before fighting Goliath, check in with the boy who had the 5 loaves and 2 fish, or ask the widow who put two little pennies into the Temple collection. God loves to work in situations that are less than our expectations! 

That is how we ended up deciding to pour our energy and effort into this small group of teens, and needless to say God did not disappoint! The retreat was set up in such a way that it was meant to allow the teens to dig deep into themselves, and share thoughts and challenges they had about their Faith. It was designed to be an opportunity for them to be real, to be honest with themselves and with their friends, and a chance to learn how to acknowledge one another and respect one another like persons.

With each conversation we had with these teens, we learned more about them, we were given a glimpse into their Faith life, and their social life, and they in turn were given a glimpse into ours. Obviously I can’t share exactly what kind of things we discussed here, but I can say that their insights inspired me, and hopefully each other, and if those teens continue to stay with the church and their Faith I’m really excited to see where God takes them.

So for me the lesson through all this was, a reminder that once again, God is in control. We as people can do our best, make our plans, and have our dreams. But in the end it’s God’s plan that is really happening, and that plan may not always look like our plan, but it is just as important for us to put our hearts and efforts into his plan as it is to put them into my own. I mean after all, think for a moment of what would have happened if the Deacon and I walked in, saw how many teens we had, and decided “This retreat ain’t worth it…these teens aren’t worth it. Go home.” What would have happened then….