Be, Love, Share #shyc2020

It was another great time at Austin College! Many of us who have attended several Senior High Youth Connection (SHYC) weekends agreed – the February 2020 event was one of the best to date.

The message was relevant (to all of us; adults included), the keynote speaker did a good job, and the people were (of course) spectacular. Thank you for sharing your high schoolers with us for the weekend.

Your teens were punctual, funny, energetic, and all-around awesome! They always make me proud to claim them as “mine” when we are out and about. We may not have gotten as much sleep as we would have liked, but we did have some great conversations, meet some wonderful new people, reconnected with friends from previous retreats, and helped show Christ’s love for others through our actions.

Our theme was “I am worthy. I am loved. I am enough.” Based on Romans 12:6 (“let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t…”) Our keynote speaker, Rev. Caressa Murray, co-pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church in College Station, reminded us of our worth in God, talked about the things that can damage our self-worth (competition, comparison, expectation, words, others) and talked about the power to be the one who encourages others, just by being who we really are. The world needs us as we were made to be. Everyone felt the charge to be who we are, love who we are, and share who we are.

SHYC participants also did a mission project, helping to pack 3,600 toiletry kits for Sherman’s Grand Central Station Soup Kitchen. The snack and food items donated will also go to Grand Central Station’s weekend meal program for homeless and food insecure students in the Sherman area.