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Your fingers tap impatiently against the steering wheel of the Ford 15-passenger van. Suzanne is running late again; the van should have been on the road 15 minutes ago, but Suzanne, or more appropriately, her mother, is usually always running "a little late." The rest of the teenagers chat noisily amidst Brandon's increasingly annoying farting noises as you silently go over the last of the details in your head.
Quickie breakfast for tomorrow? Check.
Brandon's asthma medicine? Check.
A stack of extra Bibles (because most teenagers going on a church retreat inevitably forget theirs)? Check.
Your Gas-Ex? Check.
Suzanne's ride pulls up, the car rumbling and grumbling and you wave and smile broadly to Suzanne's mother who gives a beleaguered smile back and continues shoo-ing Suzanne out of the car giving her last minute pieces of random motherly advice, as only a mother can. Suzanne bounds into the van and you have already shifted into gear and are pulling away as the doors finish closing.
The sense of excitement in the van is palpable and not just from the teenagers. This is not only the first weekend retreat for them, but for you as well. You smile to yourself as Brandon's distinctive laugh sounds out and you quickly glance into the rearview mirror to make sure he's not having too much fun. He is, so - as you accelerate and enter the freeway - you tell him to put the air-conditioning vents back into their proper slots and that taking apart rental cars isn't a particularly good way to show the love of Jesus. He agrees… and then promptly begins making farting noises again, this time with his armpit.
You smile and begin trying to figure out the directions that you printed up off of Yahoo.com before you left the church. You hand them to Nathan, who is sitting beside you in the passenger seat, and say a quick prayer under your breath for divine guidance.
After two wrong turns, you arrive at the church and park the van. The teenagers spill out of the van and begin moving towards the main building. You call out a reminder "Don't forget you Bibles!" and the wave reverses itself as they all run back to get their Bibles.
Inside, it's a madhouse. You lead your small group through the flurry of teenagers everywhere, their own tardy Youth Ministers scurrying about, and then you leave your group by a large, healthy potted palm that you know you'll be able to spot later. You quickly rush over to the registration booth, sign in, and then make your way back to your group.
Leading your group, you find a row of seats not too far up in the nose-bleed section and get settled in. You breathe a huge sigh of relief and settle back to enjoy the night. During the first break, your kids' excitement is palpable; Shane & Nathan immediately head off to "get the holy hook-up" (ie: try to get phone numbers from girls they will never call). The rest of the group wanders off aimlessly to peruse the various CD's, t-shirts, concert posters and other goodies for sale in the church lobby.
You take a small break, something that will be rare over the next 48 hours. Brandon plops down on the seat beside you and grins, excited by his surroundings and definitely ready for the coming sessions in this huge auditorium.
You enjoy the following few hours of time to hear good, often humorous, teaching and to watch as your kids enjoy it also. After the nights activities conclude, you drive them back over to the hotel you are staying at… and that's where your trouble usually starts.
You groan inwardly as the receptionist states that the pizza is running around an hour late… Haley is complaining, saying that she is lactose-intolerant and can't have pizza. Shane and Michael are riding a luggage cart back and forth up and down the hallway and within half an hour of checking in, you receive a call from the front desk.
"Uh, yes, Mr. Tovar?"
"Speaking… is this about the pizza?"
"Uh, no, sir. We've had a phone complaint from another guest about the noise on your floor… is there any way your group can quiet down a little?"
"Sure, sure… I'm sorry about that."
"Thank you."
You hang up the phone, march out into the hallway and glare at Shane and Michael, who quickly vacate their vehicle of choice. You gather the group into one room and pass out a bundle of encouragement letters from each of their families, friends, etc. They break up to go read their letters and you take a breather, slowly sipping a soda until the pizza arrives.
After the pizza arrives and is instantaneously devoured by the restless natives, you begin the hour-long process of getting everyone settled in for the night. Fifteen seconjds after you close you door, Haley shows up at the door complaining that she needs an antacid. You quickly get her some loose change and rush her down the hall to a vending machine where you saw some. After that, you tuck them in and wait for your other two adult chaperones to arrive. They do so… at 3:30 AM.
The next morning, your group groggily arises, nearly half an hour late, and you stuff breakfast down their throats as you finish packing up to rush over to the church.
After arriving at the church, your group hurries into the back doors and to the same nose bleed section as the night before. At the lunch break, your male adult chaperone, Daniel, begins doing "donuts" in the parking lot with the church van… while the kids are still in the van. He speeds off with them to McDonald's to get them their food and when they get back, the kids whisper into your ears that they don't ever want him to drive them again… you heartily agree.
The retreat ends and you rush the kids back to the church for their parents to pick them up. As you rest your feet in your office at the church, waiting for the Pastor to pick up his two sons who went, Nathan, the younger of the two comes in and sits down.
"Hey Carlos, can I tell you something?"
"Sure, buddy, what's up?"
"Well, while we were there… during the worship times…" he touches his chest, right about where his heart is, glances down at the ground and then looks into your eyes, "I… I felt something. I haven't ever felt anything like it."
You are speechless. In your mind, you're saying But everything went wrong! How could you possibly have gotten anything out of the weekend? Nothing went the way I planned for it to go! It is then that you realize a truth that will stick with you for the rest of your days… God is most often strongest when we are at our weakest.
You put your arm around this humble 6th grade boy and give him a hug as his father walks into the office and asks, "So, how'd it go?"
"Great," you answer, smiling and strangely at peace, "It was great."