Week 1: Confession and Humility with Chris Klein

We have been here at Snow Mountain Ranch for a couple of weeks now. We are working at our summer jobs, building relationships within our group and with others, and participating in occasional recreational activities. The summer is off to a great start, although not everything is easy; it is often challenging, for example, to learn the details of our jobs and to find times to do group activities when we each have different schedules.

The first Monday evening session took place on June 3. Chris Klein, the director of Calvin's Leadership Challenge Institute program, spoke to us about confession and humility. According to Chris, confession involves telling the truth about where one is at without being judgmental or condemning. In addition to allowing ourselves to get an honest idea of where we are at, confession can be a way to hear from God. To be humble, according to Chris, is to make a space for others while keeping a space for ourselves. In order to do this, we must know where we are at. But if we look at ourselves judgmentally, we push ourselves to the side and do not leave space for ourselves.

At the beginning of the evening, we participated in an exercise that showed us that when we confess to each other, we can better relate and support each other. Many of us learned from this exercise that the challenges we face going into this summer are similar to those faced by several others in the group. We would not have known this if we had not participated in confession.

At the end of the session, Chris asked each of us to write down some goals for our personal development this summer, and we discussed these in our small groups.

On the next Monday, June 10, Emily Colledge, resident director of SE and someone who will be with us here for most of the summer, spoke to us about servant leadership and shared her story with us. When talking about this summer, she also shared this quote from The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis spoken by Aslan:

Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the signs and believe the signs. Nothing else matters.

Many of us here at Snow Mountain Ranch are seeking to learn more about who we are and what we want to do with our lives. We hope to gain some insight this summer about who God has made us to be through the LCI sessions as well as through the other things we participate in here.

We are looking forward to what God will do this summer and the ways that He will stretch our imaginations! Keep checking this blog for more updates and pictures.