Senior High Gathering and Sea Gulls

Over the Christmas break the Southwest Texas Synod held their annul Senior High Gathering in Corpus Christi, Texas. We took five students all crammed into an Aspen and had a fun time. The theme was "Divine Design" and each day focused on taking care of a different part of God's design. Day one was taking care of our bodies. Day two was taking care of the world and day three was taking care of each other.

One of the best parts of the entire weekend, and I think it was the students as well, was the worship leader Aaron Strumpel. He has traveled the world leading worship and playing his songs. He is part of a group called Enter the Worship Circle and their goal, other than worshiping God through music, is bringing in the arts back into the church.

Aaron led a break out group where he taught on how he wrote songs, where he got his inspiration, and then led us in an activity. He had us close our eyes while he played a song that one of his friends had recorded. The song only had two lines of lyrics that where sung, chanted or said in many different ways. The music also did different things. After the song was over he had us talk about what we experienced, what we felt God was communicating to us. It was really cool getting to hear what the students experienced.

I bought Aaron's newest album and haven't been able to put it down. His music has spoken to me in a very profound way, a way that I haven't experienced from a Christian artist in a long time.

You can check out Aaron at www.aaronstrumpel.com...and I recommend you do!

Now, for a funny story. There are three different types of high school students; the first is the one who learns from being told what to do and what not to do, the second is the one who learns from observing other people's failures and successes and the third is the person who has to experience it first hand.

Corpus is the home of the first Whataburger and when we arrived in Corpus we went to the two story Whataburger that is located on the water for dinner. We ate outside and all around the eating area are signs that read "Please do not feed the birds." There were Sea Gulls all around us, but we weren't being bothered. However, the one student of the group who has to learn by experience decided to toss a french fry up in the air about 3 feet. Man, that was a mistake. Those birds were on us in a split second. The girls got upset and went inside while the guys laughed so hard we almost puked. It was pretty funny to say the least. Needless to say, next time we are in Corpus I will make sure everybody obeys the signs!