Remember the Rescue!

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of taking one of our youth on an overnight event called Seventh Day, hosted by the VA Synod at Eagle Eyrie Conference Center.  Together, along with 115 youth and 60 adults, we sang songs, played games, made crafts, engaged in worship and prayer together, and studied Matthew 26: 17-29 with the intention to "Remember the Rescue." In sharing a seder meal, we celebrate God's rescue and provision of freedom for the Israelites from slavery, made clear by the Passover lamb's blood.  We remember the rescue that Jesus provided to all of us in life-giving bread and in his death and resurrection, saving us from our sins.  Thus, we remember the rescue each time we receive communion, the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As we discussed our favorite moments from the event on the ride home, both Anna and I agreed that getting to visit real, live lambs was a definite high point.  We met a mama and her two lambs, plus two other adult sheep who were as sweet and as friendly as can be.  I joked that one of them was part-goat, because she was overly interested in being outside her pen, sniffing us and trying to hoof her way out of the skimpy metal enclosure.  We both loved the "Rescue Relay" in which each group had to transfer the "bread" (crouton) from one side of the room to the other, one chopstick per hand.  The Rescuers encountered several plagues along the way, including darkness (blindfolds), hail (marshmallows), and frogs (plastic frogs hurled at the precariously-positioned crouton between the chopsticks).  I admit that as a helper in this particular activity, I may have taken just a little bit too much glee in plaguing the Rescuers with frogs.  Above all, we enjoyed the people we were with - new friends we met; friends from a nearby church; friends as far away as Hampton and Virginia Beach and Williamsburg. There is something uniquely wonderful about being in a room with 200 of your newest friends, each of you singing praise songs and celebrating a shared love of Jesus. 

I'm so thankful for Anna, and the opportunity she provided for us to attend this awesome event.  We already can't wait for Lost and Found in November!