“In listening to the silence of the mountains, I heard at last my own heart’s words and I found my voice.” This quote was on a light blue rocker that sat on the porch of the house where I was staying in Montreat, North Carolina and is representative of my experience while attending my first youth conference. Montreat is a mountain retreat center nestled between the bucolic mountains of western North Carolina. Every year, my youth group makes the pilgrimage down south to attend the Montreat Youth Conference. It is a 12 hour van drive with 15 loud teenagers, in July, traveling through traffic, humidity, rain, sun and clouds. While attending a small group meeting, I began to feel more confident and express myself without concern of judgement for my comments or questions. Before I knew it, I was energizing my group. I came to realize I had been living my life trying to fit in when I was meant to lead. I had been quiet when I was meant to be heard. …show more content…
It was a two year commitment to develop the concepts, themes and activities of the conference. It was my hope that I could provide the same “a ha” moment I had experienced. By working with a team comprised of people from other parts of the country and varying in age and life experience, I continued to learn and grow and learned that I could teach those more educated and older than