After careful consideration, I replied, “Saying yes to adventures.”
Getting on a bus full of mostly strangers headed to a mystery location, to do a weekend full of activities of what you don’t really know- is a daunting prospect. And yet, that was exactly what I found myself doing. With a nearly exploding backpack, a cliché retreat nametag, and my pillow (stuffed full of the stuff that wouldn’t fit in my backpack)- I boarded my bus and awaited my adventure.
Welcome to Sophomore Road Trip. Each fall Campus Ministry loads up buses with students, each bus going to a different location, calling students to put the stress and uncertainties of college life behind them and embrace the unknown. As the kind of person who loves schedules and planning, the idea of not knowing where we were going, what we were doing was initially really uncomfortable.
Luckily the retreat leaders didn’t give us a chance to panic. From the moment the bus left Notre Dame Avenue, it was a constant stream of icebreakers as the bus full of strangers turned into new friendships. By the time we arrived at our first stop (a delicious old school pizza parlor), we found ourselves sitting at tables of half new friends and half old ones.
Over the course of the weekend I would continue to accept adventure over and over: canoeing to an unknown island with a group of friends, doing a trust fall, and even climbing up a high ropes course! I went exploring through the woods. I tried new forms of prayer. I participated in an impromptu dance party. But more than that, I accepted the risk of telling people about my struggles and discuss our mutual struggles to discern what God is calling us to do.
The wonderful thing about retreat is that it lets you do exactly that- “retreat.” Take a break from studying, dorm life, and extracurricular to focus on what is really important. It gives you a chance to revive your spiritual side and reignite your fire for God. Sophomore Road Trip is especially unique because it forces you to let go of worries and hesitations and embrace the unknown. In the same way, we must embrace the unknown in our lives.
Last week, I discussed taking a pilgrimage: the idea of taking a faith journey, but letting God take the steering wheel. Sophomore Road Trip is the perfect way to take a mini pilgrimage. Putting your focus and trust in the Lord and the journey. It’s often easy, we discussed this weekend, to spend all our time stressed about the future. Wondering if we have the right major, if we are applying to the right study abroad program, or even knowing if we’ve picked the best future career path. Instead, I learned that it is far more beneficial to look at now and take things one-step at a time. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” reads Jeremiah 29:11. The vocation God has for all of us right now is just to trust in the moment and leave the future to the Lord’s plan for us. In a way, we are all on this road trip of life, where we must get on and take part in the journey, enjoying each moment for what it is and not just for the destination.
As for me, I am choosing to do this by saying yes to adventure. Saying yes to going to midnight Glee club concerts with my roommate. Saying yes to going on a trip to France. Saying yes to exploring the new forms of prayer I learned during retreat. Saying yes to playing sports that I am terrible at. Saying yes to making new friends and creating deeper friendships with old ones. But most importantly, saying yes to the unknown. When you are God’s journey, God’s road trip, there are no wrong turns.
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