Tears and Goodbyes and a Never Ending Story

Today was our last day.  :(.  For all of us it was a day full of amazing things, and for two of us it was the end of an era.

We started our day with our keynote speaker.  Her name is Becca Stevens.  She founded the Magdalene House and Thistle Farms.  The goal of these to organizations is to transition woman who have worked as prostitutes and woman who have suffered sexual abuse from the streets to successful lives in the world.  She spoke to us about starting a movement, and how the love of one person can heal another, and another, and another.  She is truly inspirational.  Personally it was my favorite part of the week.  If you want more information you can go to Thistle Farms website, www.thistlefarms.org.

Then we had lunch followed by workshops.  During the first workshop, about half of us went to Energizers.  Which is basically dancing in funny ways that gets everyone involved at an event.  A few of us on the Diocesan Youth Council, wrote down our emails so we could receive a set of instructions on a list of a few Energizers, and the music that goes with them to practice for upcoming youth events.  For the most part, many of us didn't attend a second workshop.  This was due to the fact that they were not as interesting to us.  Instead we played cards, explored, and reflected on our time together.

As it was the last night, there was a special banquet for all the juniors and seniors.  The basic idea is that this is a banquet to honor the people who won't be returning.  I personally felt jipped, because as a rising junior and not a completed junior, I still won't get a chance to return to EYE unless I am a chaperone later in life.  Instead most of us went to dinner a little earlier, and went to the open mic and just had a good time.  If you want to hear about the banquet, I would suggest asking someone who was old enough to go.

Lastly, we had our final Eucharist.  This was emotional for all of us.  There are seniors, we won't get to see as much.  There are friends we made from across the country who we may never see again.  However, no matter what we had an experience worth celebrating.  We danced, we laughed, we experienced an amazing sermon about spreading the love of God using the 5 Marks of Mission, which was the theme by the way.  Sorry for not mentioning that before.  Most of all, we all felt the love of the people around us.

So goodbye EYE.  Hello the journey home.

For the last time...

-Sophie