Jon Baggett’s Weblog

Hey guys, I have joined the blogging world again and hope to put down some of my thoughts and spiritual journeys and struggles on here and hope to get some advice and feedback from others so that I can continue to grow in my faith journey! 

My first entry will mainly be about my first trip of the summer for the CTC SLT retreat and good ol’ annual conference! Early Saturday morning I was off on an adventure  and was honestly a little worried about it coming in. I was not sure how this whole retreat was going to work out and didn’t want to feel out of place in a student leadership team where it seemed like everyone knew someone else, except me. But, it turned out to be a enlightening experience and was jammed pack with God’s good work from beginning to end. Once we started planning events it really came out to me what an awesome group of kids were there. What group of kids are willing to spend their weekends sitting in a room planning for events. Thats what makes this group already so special and close to me! How awesome is it that 30 high school students came together and totally decided to start fresh with new ideas for events this year instead of just staying with the same old things that might have worked ok and fine. We all decided that its time to change, for better or worse we need change! It is a hard thing to grasp but can turn out to be better than imagined. All in all, we got rid of Ignite and 68 degrees and have decided for one day ”rallies” in waco. One for Jr. high and one for high school. Also we decided for an extended midwinter where we were hope to change the spiritual lives of these campers in just a simple weekend. 

     After the retreat I headed off to Annual Conference along with about 10 other SLT kids. Over the next 3 days I really got to know these kids well, as well as Joy, Ward, and Amanda, the adults. Once again these people amazed me from beginning to end, spending their first week of summer at a conference where we were literally the only youth out of thousands of people there. In my personal experience I saw many of my dad’s old pastor buddies which was neat for me! Also, Me, Mel, And Turk had to sit in the very front row, right in the center infront of the bishop. But, we luckily made through it through with the many pounds of candy we consumed and the many liters of soda we drank! Truly, it was a neat experience to see how the church works at a much larger level than the local church, how we decide our very beliefs, and the amount of people filled with God’s joy all there for the same reason. Lastly, the most memorable moment happened in a very unlikely place for me. As I stood in line to buy a book called “Blue Like Jazz” I started a conversation with a man who I did not know, as he talked how much he enjoyed the book and how excited he was to see a youth there at conference so interested in the church he did a simple thing, bought my book for me! While it seems like such a small deed, it will make a life time impact on me! Little does he know, I will always remember him for his kind heart and how he was the highlight of my first Annual Conference. Its people like that that I strive to be like everyday! 

I know this was a long one but I needed to get alot out! please feel free to give advice, comments, or anything! thanks!