Lutherans and Lightning

 It started off as a normal, hot day in New Orleans. We staggered out of bed and met in 1309 to receive our backpacks that held maps and mini-bibles. Later, this blue drawstring pack became one of the easiest ways to identify other Gateherers. Setting off with no food in our stomachs, we went to go to Cafe Du Monde.With a seemingly endless line, we went to a restaurant across the street. Now fueled and ready, we set off to go on the Katrina Tour, which features the recovery and damage that the hurricane left which would have been forgotten by this point. (The tour guide thanked "all of us ladies for coming", and we tried not to laugh too hard at Paul and Jared.)

After this, we returned to the hotel, got ready, and merged with the swarming body of teenage Lutherans. The superdome was quite impressive and they thanked us all for coming. One speaker in particular stood out to us all. A woman who you would question if she appeared in the church... and she was a pastor! Nadia Bolz-Weber. She had a rough past, but she had moved beyond it. Just how she said what she said, it connected. It is no stretch for me to say that we loved her.

Sometime during our service, a storm had moved over the dome. It prevented us from leaving for a full 30-45 minutes. Thunder was heard. After much waiting and bored stares around, we finally got the good-to-go. The storm had passed, but that didn't mean we didn't catch part of it. As thirty thousand kids marched their way back to their hotels, warm rain dumped over us, and lighting caught the sky. A few of us have said that if not for our things that we wanted to keep dry, we would have been proudly marching about without a care in the world.

Dried off, we met for the "final fifteen" which ended up being around and hour. But such is life.

So much happened today, that my mind pauses to wonder what to think of first. It felt so lively and powerful to be in the city with so many other people. (The entire population of the city went up 7% due to all of the Gatherers.) The food is quite good, but we are finding it hard to get enough to not be starving across the day.

But so far, the thing I can think most about, is the Lutherans and lightning.