Encountering A Memory

As I still have many things stored in many places from my 4 years at Bethany, I have been slowly putting things away that I would like to keep. Today I was going through my art box where, in the rushes of packing up after finals week, I threw a bunch of random things in with my painting supplies. As I was putting stuff away in my current bedroom, I found a couple pieces of paper folded together almost as if they were sent to me in the mail. Naturally I wanted to see if indeed they were a letter from someone from my past and I found that yes they were, but the best part about them is that they were written by me.
In my sophomore year at Bethany U, I went on a missions trip to England. During the trip every team member lead a devotional before we left to do whatever we were going to do for the day. The letter was two fold. It contained my notes for the devotional that I lead, and a journal entry that I wrote beforehand. As I read through both pages, a flood of memories came back to me. I was challenged by my own writing too. The devotional challenged our team to be focused on what Christ did for us and what it meant to us. It challenged us to do everything with a greater passion so as to illustrate to the kids we were teaching how much Jesus means to us.
As I read my journal entry, I remembered the England team and what that trip meant to the rag-tag group of us that went. I'm amazed to this day by the bond that most of us still have and take to heart. We all went through a lot before the trip and this trip was a renewing experience for all of us. Sure we went to London and Paris, and yes we saw Canterburry and a bunch of other south-eastern English towns. The most impacting memories are still the ones of Christ changing us and illustrating his love for us even through our own dramas and lessons that we taught the kids. I want to go to England again, but not for the same reason as most people. I want to go see the people that impacted me while I was there to impact them. I want to tell them how much the experience that they were willing to host has changed my life. I want them to know that they are valued. They wouldn't believe that I'll be going to Macedonia soon to serve as a missionary. I feel as if they're part of my family, distant, but still part. Still important. I sure hope I'll never forget times like those that I had in England. I sure can't wait to be able to look back and enjoy memories from other experiences like them too!