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Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada
Posted by: jesse on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 05:12 AM
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Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada
Hello friends -
Spent most of the day in the air or at the airport on Tuesday, February 21st, 2006. Flew from DFW to Calgary for a four hour flight, then a three hour layover waiting for a flight to Grande Prairie. Russ Snoble invited me for a three day visit to the school district in Grande Prairie which would involve high school, junior high and a day for faculty and staff. Yikes.
Russ picked me up at the airport with a huge grin and hospitality. With an official welcome hug to Grande Priarie, we picked up luggage and headed into town.
Checked into the Sandman Inn, directly across from the crystal Centre, where the 850 high school students and 1200 junior high students and I would spend the next couple of days together.
Morning arrives way too soon and I find myself smack dab in the middle of high school students and teachers. Theme of the day, "Send Out Your Spirit." Everyone needs that. You. Me. The Church. The world. Need the Spirit to wake us up. Physically, emotionally and spiritually. Holy Spirit, come and awaken us. Awaken us especially from our fears and block-headedness. Yes, the block-headedness. Towards the end of one of the sessions I open the floor up for questions and comments. Yikes. "Jesse, what if a lion and a monkey were to fight over a tree, and the monkey had a flame thrower; who would win?" Isaac asked, "Jesse, if God made a burrito that was so hot, that even he couldn't eat it, what would that mean regarding God knowing everything, but not knowing that his burrito was too hot?!" Dude, how easy is that. That's why God made Mountain Dew. Doesn't matter how hot the burrito is when you have Mountain Dew to dip it in...shaw....Every now and then we'd get a silly question or comment like, "Jesse, do you ever have doubts about your faith?" Or goofy comments from James, like, "I will remember the Holy Spirit from this day." Hello. Holy Spirit....we have contact.
We closed the day with Eucharist. Young people ministering in music, proclaiming the word, eucharistic ministers, hospitality, etc. Fr. Gerry presided with inspiring presence.
Right after mass, Russ, Karl, and I, literally ran to the car, and jetted (at the speed limit) over to the nearby Elementary school for a surprise visit to the 5th grade class that colored over 740 smiley faces onto paper bags for this high school and junior high rally. Fifth grade rocks. I want to be in Fifth Grade when I grow up.
Back to the Sandman for a two hour rest. Then over to the Chalet de Snoble, where Cheryl the beloved of Russ, Sarah the magnificent, Kara of Justice, and David the Fast and the Quick welcome me to their home for a meal prepared by loving hearts and hands. The meal, wonderful. The conversation, beautiful. The dessert, prepared by Kara of Justice, Blueberry Grunt, was fantabulous. Sarah the magnificent scored an assist with homemade whipped cream. Blueberry Grunt. I saw. I ate. I grunted. Beg your pardon, more diet Pepsi please? Thank you.
Closed the evening with the Snobles in prayer. And guess what? I'm in the prayer litany of the Snoble family. That rocks. That rolls.
The next morning, we rev it up for the junior high students and teachers. Yikes. Over 1200 strong. And let me tell you, folks tell me all the time that junior high is the toughest group. I don't see it. I don't ever see that. These junior folks jumped right into the singing, the praying, the clapping, the yelling, more singing, more dancing, more praying, more clapping....and even some sacred silence. Imagine that. Sacred silence to make room for listening....quietly....and then questions and comments. And then flowing right into Eucharist. A wonderful day. We asked the Holy Spirit to send us forth. Send us forth to live our faith. We asked the Spirit to send us forth to live our faith, to challenge one another and ourselves, to wake up, to face our fears, to walk, struggle, celebrate, work for peace and justice....together.
I don't remember how I got to the hotel. All I know is that Russ knocked at my door and woke me up in time for the Grande Prairie & District Catholic Schools/St. Joseph Parish fundraiser! This was a night to raise awareness of what has been, hopes to be, and needs to accomplished in the community. It was also a night to raise funds and have fun at the same time. Met some wonderful folks. Balloon Raffle. Never heard of it but wow, what a way to raise funds! Amazing concept. So you filled a room with helium filled balloons. At the end of the string is a small envelope with a ticket. You don't know the number of the ticket, you just buy the balloon. As the night progresses, if you've bought a ticket to the "silent auction/raffle" it's totally evident. You've got a balloon on your table. If you don't have a balloon on your table, or only one or two balloons on your table, DUDE, you are going to have someone selling you a balloon in a matter of moments. $20 a balloon. And each balloon has a ticket that gives you a shot at well over 60 prizes that include dinners, spa certificates, paintings, chocolates, gift certificates for clothing shops, more dinners, golf bags, CDs (mine), more certificates, all kinds of donated gifts for all kinds of folks, with the grand prize of 100,000 miles of air travel. DUDE. Well, if the catered dinner wasn't enough; if the great company wasn't enough, if the great speaker for the evening wasn't enough (me), if the dessert table wasn't enough, one of my table mates, Tania, won the grand prize of 100,000 miles. She then reaches over to me with the certificate and says, "This is for you and your family." Yikes and WHAT?!!
Sacred silence...
The following day I have the honor, privilege and responsibility of addressing the faculty, staff, administration, volunteers of the school district. The theme is the same thread of "Send Out Your Spirit." Fr. Gerry comes to me and offers some encouragement and some reflection of the days with the young people. I take his words, challenging and thought provoking, deeply to heart. I find myself humbled to be on this stage speaking to folks who are way more faithful and committed than I will ever be. These folks, live, work, cry, ache, strive, fall and rise in the day to day with one another and especially with the children and youth of the church. They work in the institution of Church, of school, of the classroom. Yikes. That's tough stuff. So I do what I can to encourage, affirm, thank, and challenge them to continue to believe God's belief in them. To trust the Spirit to provide what is needed.
The day moves fast and is over in the blink of an eye. I pack my guitar, share some hugs goodbye, see my friend, Russ Snoble, hug him with thanks and blessing, and then Karl and I jet over to the airport. Long story short, no early flight, so Karl invites me to supper with his family, and HELLO. I think of Jodi and the girls having dinner in Texas... I'm grateful to share this meal and moment with Karl's family. Family is a great gift.
Grand time in Grande Prairie. God, send us forth....
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