Today was an amazing day from the start! We all got to sleep in a little late and then hit breakfast in the hotel lobby. We got to make waffles and eat fruit or bagels or cereal. We met up after breakfast and then headed to church.
When we arrived at church (The Chapel at Crosspoint), we headed inside and found our seats. Worship was awesome! There were a lot of song that we aren't used to but it was great. After worship, the pastor got up and began his message for the day. This is the first part where I really saw what God was doing with us on this trip. The pastor's message was on spiritual gifts which lines perfectly up with our Bible study we are teaching on Wednesday afternoons. His message about how we are gifted had some really great insight and points. One of the thing he said was that when asking about our spiritual gifts, we normally always ask how we get our gifts. In reality though, we need to be asking ourselves why we got those gifts. Then he made this point: "Your gifts are not for you to be put on display, but for Christ to be put on display." He was essentially saying that instead of using our gifts to raise awareness about ourselves, we need to use our gifts to raise awareness about God. He should be who we look to and who we worship, not ourselves because of what we can do or because of what we have. It was a really insightful message especially with what we are covering in the high school this summer.
After church we loaded the bus and headed to lunch at the mall. We ate in the food court and had about 45 minutes to walk around the mall and look. After lunch, we loaded the bus again and headed to Niagara Falls. We unloaded and headed to the overlook where you can see the American Falls. It was pretty cool but I will be honest, I thought to myself, "This is ok, but nothing special." It looked like a normal waterfall. I was not very impressed.
It was time to go to Maid of the Mist which is a boat ride that takes you up to the falls and into the "mist" coming off the water. We loaded the boat and put on our ponchos so we didn't get soaked. Then we started off towards the falls. As we passed the American Falls, I took a second and rethought what I had originally crossed my mind. This waterfall was HUGE. As we passed the American Falls and then headed to the Canadian Falls I realized the total extent of the massiveness. As I stood there, I was reminded our God is so incredibly great and awesome. I was and am a mesily human being who is sinful and deserves nothing in this life and the falls just reminds me more of that. As you stand there on the boat's deck, you realize how small you really are in the world. While all of this was running through my mind, one of the students spoke up and said, "I can't understand how someone can believe in evolution when you look at something this amazing. How can you think there is no God?" At that moment, I was reminded of why I do what I do as a student pastor. I do this because I want students to realize how awesome our God is and how undeserving we are of His great love for us. I do this because I want them to be COMPLETELY changed! I want their lives to be never the same!
There was a lot running through my mind during this day and God was really working in my life and teaching me and showing me SO much.
After Maid of the Mist, we loaded the bus and headed to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. We ate and Levi Mays did the Blazin' wings challenge and won! He was proud of his t-shirt he got!
We loaded the bus yet again and headed back to the Falls for fireworks and to see the lights. There was so much this day made me think about but, most of all, it made me really appreciate having a relationship with my Father! Praise God for who He is and who is promises to be everyday!!
Love you all (especially Mallory Lee Barker)!!
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