"Where there is no love, put love -- and you will find love."

            

This year for Spring Break we went back to the Smoky Mountains. It was a great time for the students who had gone before as well as the many more that came for the first time. It was a little chillier this year but we still hiked and a group still went white water rafting. I went with a group who started to hike the Appalachian Trail but about a half mile in there was too much ice in the path to keep going. We ended up finding another trail that led to a river we sat and enjoyed our lunch next to.

              On Sunday we went to Crossing in Knoxville for church. One of the pastors there, Caleb, came to teach us every night. The main theme was “Along the way”.  The main quote for the series was from St. John of the Cross "Where there is no love, put love -- and you will find love." It was a really good reminder of wherever you are you should be making disciples and through the Holy Spirit we are empowered to live this way.  It is God who builds God’s kingdom. It needs to be God working through us, not us doing it for Him.
                Caleb taught us some history that we can apply to our lives today. In the 7^th century monks in Europe started a movement to spread God’s Word. First the monk would spend time in a cell; a small, circular hut with a thatched roof.

They would meditate on God. Then they would build a coracle; a round, rudderless two-man wicker boat. The monks would walk down to the river and ask God to send them wherever He desired. Wherever they landed, the monks spread the Word. We need a place of rest and a place of mission. The cell comes first and then the coracle. I learned that I have to spend time first with God before doing things.