TEXAS OR BUST!!!

Texas. Wow. What a trip. I will start by saying that this was by far the best trip i have ever been on, definetely the most fun, packed full of suprises, and it was what i needed.
I didn't want to go to Texas. I was the oldest young adult that was going, only Traci Miller and Megan Augustinack were in the same grade as me, and about 85% of the people who were going where only freshmen. I didn't want to go with those people. And i had made up my mind that i hated them all. What i got, however, was a suprise. I love each and every one of them for who they are, where they came from, and i admire them for the people they are going to be. What else was extraordinary was that we all got along, and we all just partied hard core Christian style, and had a blast together.
I decided to go to Texas to look for God. I have become so angry and frustrated with God, that i can no longer find him, i no longer pray, and i don't want a relationship with God. I know, I know, i'm a bad person because i don't believe in him, blah blah blah blah. But, without god in my life, i feel as if my life is literally, incomplete. I'm missing a part of me that i want and i need, otherwise i'm going to be miserable. So, i went off on my Journey, and I went to Texas. I didn't see God when i was down there, and on the way home, i was dissappointed in my trip. I didn't find what i was looking for. But in order to find something, you need to remember where you lost it or how, or you need a map to find it. So, i didn't see God in Texas, because i wasn't looking properly. Or i don't know how to look. And when i figured this out, it was weird. My heart felt at peace. And now when i look back on my trip, I see him literally, every where. It is such an incredible feeling that i can't even explain it.
OK. You guys prolly didn't care to know that part. But it feels good. Back to the trip. We did a three day mission trip in Austin, where we scraped and painted houses. I learned a lot about myself and how i viewed the world compared to how these people viewed the world, and i feel ashamed of how i viewed the world before. And the owner of the house that we did, gave us a thank you card and she called us "her Minnesotan Angels" and it brought tears to my eyes, about how someone can feel so grateful for something that wasn't even that big of a deal for us. And it left me wishing that we could have done more for her. Finished her porch, fixed the steps and doors in the back, did some landscaping for her. Debrah deserved a mansion and she is such a good person that i feel honored to ever have met her and i believe that she has changed my life more than i changed hers, and that's truly a blessing for me.
Then we went off to San Antonio for the ELCA National Youth Gathering. With 30,000 teenage lutheran youth running around, it was so cool to see everybody doing the same motions, praising the Lord, going crazy for the same reason. It was overwhelming. Hawk Nelson, The Katinas, Newsboys, Superchik, and Agape were my favorite bands that played and i did like a couple of songs that Peter Mayer and Friends did. Captive Free in Austin was good. Some of the speakers were good. I really liked the pastor who spoke the first night, and that super hilarious guy who was on comedy central the second night.
I have so many memories and so many things that happened on this trip, that i possibly can't share all of them in just this one blog and even if i could, who would really take the time to read all of it. I'll just say that it fulfilled something, some part of me that was missing, and i'm so happy that i went. I can't really explain what i mean. But the trip was a blast, except, i wish i could have spent a little more time with Kate. I didn't even get to talk to Kate that much, which bums me out. But, Kate, I hope that you had as much fun as i did.