SLAM Week Impact
Journal Prompt
SLAM Nashville week: What did you learn? How were you challenged? What will you take away from this experience?
My Thoughts
Something I learned from this past SLAM week was the importance of sports. I’m not a sporty gal nor do I have oodles of experience in the sports field. During this SLAM week I met several kids ranging from 5-16. Some of these kids could speak English and others could not, but the one thing that did seem to bring about the most clear communication was sports. Kicking a soccer ball around or organizing a basketball game made these kids light up. They were so joyful to be play a game that they know and love with random people like me who they had never even met before.
SLAM for sure challenged the amount of energy I wanted to give to things. There was one day where I felt such a low energy level in my body. I was tired, but there was a lot that had to get done, and the kids needed young adults to hype them up. On one specific night there was a very collective low energy level polluting us internees. Mr. Garner gave us a correction about this and explained to us that we have to be the ones to have that energy even when we are down in, as he called it, “the fourth quarter”. The kids who had been out serving all day needed us to be there for him and we needed to rely on the Lord for our energy and strength. I was very challenged and just started praying to God to fill me up and make my voice and body speak up and get up. In the end we had a great night and super fun send off and I was so thankful to the Lord for meeting me and my friends in our weakness.
I will be taking a lot of memories from this past week. Some of my favorite memories are from worship. As we sang together, I would look around the room and see all the younger ones huddled on the floor crying, praying over one another, letting go of those things that were holding them back, and laying themselves at the feet of Jesus. I think that the Lord showed me in these moments how precious his kids are to him and how beautiful it really is for a child to know the Lord.