Since then I have loved everything Colorado.
the mountains
the aspen trees
the flag
the fact that EVERYONE drives a Subaru
just kidding...but really, there are a million Subarus in Colorado
I have always talked about going out there again but I had no one to visit and no where to stay.
Enter Caitlin Jenks.
I met Caitlin when we did summer staff at a Young Life camp in Canada called Malibu Club in June and July of 2011. While we were there we didn't spend an enormous amount of time together, but we had one of those weird connections where you just know that you are meant to be friends with someone. And it was just a perk that this someone I was destined to be friends with, also lives in Colorado, so eventually I told her all about my love for her homeland and we made plans for me to come visit. Well, you know how plans like that go, you want to but never seem to find the time, and so it got pushed off. Then, we met up again in LA for our summer staff reunion in December of 2011. This is where our friendship deepened. We were the only girls for most of the trip therefore we stuck together a lot. This time, when we made plans for me to visit, I knew I wasn't going to put it off. It was real this time. I was going to Colorado.
So, I spent the better part of this year figuring out when I could go and saving my money for a plane ticket. Finally, the date was set! I would be traveling to Denver on October 5-October 10 to see if all of my dreams would come true!And now, its already been two weeks since I stepped foot off that plane, which is crazy. I am still missing it everyday.
When I got there Friday night I had no idea what my agenda would be. I got to do so many fun things while I was there! I met so many of Caitlin's friends, her boyfriend, her best friend, her childhood friends. I went to a casino where I played blackjack for the first time, went up to a couple different mountains, I saw Red Rocks, I went to a festival put on by Chipotle, got some organic food and listened to some bands, went to the Coors brewery, saw where Caitlin works and got a free meal at this awesome country club...fish tacos=YUM, walked around downtown Denver, started a dance party in H&M, and laughed nonstop, so hard throughout all of it!
One of the best things that I got to do while I was out there was seeing how they do Young Life in that area. Caitlin is a WyldLife leader, which is Young Life but for middle school instead of high school. I got to go to their all area leader meeting, where I met all the leaders in her area and her area director, Jason. I got to go to a Young Life and a WyldLife club, where I got to see high school and middle school kids let their guards down and have fun. I also got to witness them hearing the Gospel in a different way.
Now it has been about two weeks since I was in Colorado and I am just now finishing this post. Even though a lot of the excitement about it has worn off there is one thing that has stayed with me. Contact work. For those of you reading that have never been a part of Young Life, those two words probably mean nothing to you. Contact work, in short, is just going where kids are. It's submersing yourself into a high schoolers world in hopes that you will be able to lay a foundation for a relationship with them. Contact work is no joke in Arvada, Colorado. I was so completely encouraged and proud of how this is the most important thing in their ministry and it is so evident. Whether its driving kids around to and from campaigners and club, hanging out after club, or going for some sweet little fro-yo, they are completely devoted to their kids. As I got to watch these leaders step into the lives of the middle and high school kids that I met, I was convicted. But a really good conviction. The kind of conviction that lights a fire under your ass, quite frankly. This year is the first year that I was walking into Gatewood without a set group of girls that I was pouring into. This past year, the girls that I had built relationships with graduated and are now at colleges around the state. This has been a starting over year for me and it has been hard. And I have made so many excuses because of that. But being able to watch these leaders love on kids whether or not they wanted to be doing something else or should have been doing something else, was incredible. The most wonderful part about all of this though is that The God that is working in Arvada, Colorado is the same God that is working in Milledgeville and Eatonton, Georgia. And that is good news.
So, I spent the better part of this year figuring out when I could go and saving my money for a plane ticket. Finally, the date was set! I would be traveling to Denver on October 5-October 10 to see if all of my dreams would come true!And now, its already been two weeks since I stepped foot off that plane, which is crazy. I am still missing it everyday.
When I got there Friday night I had no idea what my agenda would be. I got to do so many fun things while I was there! I met so many of Caitlin's friends, her boyfriend, her best friend, her childhood friends. I went to a casino where I played blackjack for the first time, went up to a couple different mountains, I saw Red Rocks, I went to a festival put on by Chipotle, got some organic food and listened to some bands, went to the Coors brewery, saw where Caitlin works and got a free meal at this awesome country club...fish tacos=YUM, walked around downtown Denver, started a dance party in H&M, and laughed nonstop, so hard throughout all of it!
One of the best things that I got to do while I was out there was seeing how they do Young Life in that area. Caitlin is a WyldLife leader, which is Young Life but for middle school instead of high school. I got to go to their all area leader meeting, where I met all the leaders in her area and her area director, Jason. I got to go to a Young Life and a WyldLife club, where I got to see high school and middle school kids let their guards down and have fun. I also got to witness them hearing the Gospel in a different way.
Now it has been about two weeks since I was in Colorado and I am just now finishing this post. Even though a lot of the excitement about it has worn off there is one thing that has stayed with me. Contact work. For those of you reading that have never been a part of Young Life, those two words probably mean nothing to you. Contact work, in short, is just going where kids are. It's submersing yourself into a high schoolers world in hopes that you will be able to lay a foundation for a relationship with them. Contact work is no joke in Arvada, Colorado. I was so completely encouraged and proud of how this is the most important thing in their ministry and it is so evident. Whether its driving kids around to and from campaigners and club, hanging out after club, or going for some sweet little fro-yo, they are completely devoted to their kids. As I got to watch these leaders step into the lives of the middle and high school kids that I met, I was convicted. But a really good conviction. The kind of conviction that lights a fire under your ass, quite frankly. This year is the first year that I was walking into Gatewood without a set group of girls that I was pouring into. This past year, the girls that I had built relationships with graduated and are now at colleges around the state. This has been a starting over year for me and it has been hard. And I have made so many excuses because of that. But being able to watch these leaders love on kids whether or not they wanted to be doing something else or should have been doing something else, was incredible. The most wonderful part about all of this though is that The God that is working in Arvada, Colorado is the same God that is working in Milledgeville and Eatonton, Georgia. And that is good news.
Blessings,
Jessica
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