Encouragement Bags are Called Such for a Reason

First, a couple of pictures, and then the explanation for the title:
Atalie, Riquel (who is from Antigua), Becky, and me before our Crusade meeting

a hilariously awkward picture of Brant, James, and Katie

a lovely spot in one of the UWI courtyards

As part of our leadership meeting and Team Care's job (Team Care pretty much consists of Brant & James--usually just saying "Team Care" and high-fiving one another), we decided to do Encouragement Bags. We all got Ziploc bags and put our names on them and taped them on our walls, and the point is that others will write you little encouraging notes and slip them in your bags. It can just be a verse or "have a good day" if you want, but we've all gotten very personal about it. All of our notes say what we like about one another and notes something admirable that the recipient has done, or something like that. It was really just something kind of fun to do, but Encouragement Bags really are encouraging! You find out what parts of your personality come across to other people, and sometimes you are genuinely surprised. It always puts a smile on your face to get a note in your bag. I fully intend to keep all of mine and do something with them--make a Barbados collage or something and put my notes all over it.

You know, I will definitely be excited to go home when July 2nd rolls around, but these are really amazing people that I'm going to be spending my next 3 weeks with (I leave THREE WEEKS from today--CRAZY!), and I'm definitely going to be sorry when we have to part ways. We're all such unlikely friends, which is, I suppose, why God put us all together in the way that He did. He knows what He's doing.