St. Peter’s Anglican Church

What happens when you take seven teenage guys to Winter Park, Colorado for a ski trip? A lot. Granted, the draw for this trip is a great weekend skiing and having fun on the slopes. Winter Park is known as one of the friendliest places to ski in the nation. The scenery is breathtaking and the slopes were the best they had been all season. The fellowship that ensued was enough to make this a special trip. But that was just the beginning of God’s plan for us in Colorado.

Every night we would spend time together intentionally discussing the lives we were called to and how God makes them happen. I have been in youth ministry for over 15 years and have rarely heard the conviction and depth that came from these discussions. Each person seemed hand picked to share an experience that brought them to this trip. The Holy Spirit had prepared us all to share something special.

One person, someone newer to our group, summed up the idea that we were trying so hard to articulate.

Fraternity.

What we were experiencing was a brotherhood that goes beyond personal likes and dislikes, beyond our preferences of fellowship, and beyond so many of our expectations. God had called each of us into a special bond that recognizes faults and differences and yet accepts and gives grace.

The last night we spent our time together acknowledging what we saw that was admirable in each other. There was an air of transcendence among us. God was there, and he was using each of us to affirm and encourage each other in the path we have been called into.

There are many more stories than what is hinted at in this short post. God made amazing things happen with 10 people who came for mostly different purposes. I left thinking of Ephesians 2:10 which says,

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

We left knowing that we were made into something new that was infinitely better than we could imagine for ourselves. And if we were just faithful with what we were called to do, then we would live up to the best situation we could dream of. Thanks be to God.