Blue Skies Blues...Feeling Nostalgic

Tonight I am feeling Blue Skies nostalgic. The retreat season has come to an end for the 2013 year. I have no doubt that plans are already well underway for next summer...in fact I know they are. This year there were six weeks of Blue Skies fun; next year there will be eight. My goal is to attend two of them. I have already set some "goals" for myself for my time there next summer.

My biggest regret is that I didn't get to know the other volunteers and the other families as well as I wish I had. Since my week, I have many new facebook friends and have continued to follow the journeys of many of the families. I even had the opportunity to visit one of our families with some other Blue Skies volunteers. Six of us took a roadtrip to Ringgold, GA a couple of Saturdays ago. I can't tell you how much good it did my heart to connect and reconnect with my Blue Skies "family."

So  next summer I will be even more intentional about really connecting with more families and volunteers. Maybe it's a little like school nursing...took me a year to learn what a school nursing is really about. As much as it is about the day to day clinic visits, it's more importantly about the relationships I have with my students and their families.  Now that I know what a Blue Skies week is all about, I can focus on what is most important...also the relationships. It may be too late for a "do-over" of my first week there but there are plenty of new opportunities next summer.

Enough about regrets though. Let's talk about the positive changes after a Blue Skies retreat. The Blue Skies family has shown me the value of serving others. I wish I could say I've always been eager to "serve" but the truth is, I've been overly protective of my own time and money for way too long.  That is changing in me and it's truly been a heart change. Please be clear that I did not cause this change. Only God could do that. It feels good to give and to serve and I pray that God will continue to show me opportunities, big and small, on a daily basis.

Between now and next summer I will continue to "talk up" this fabulous ministery. I will continue to pray daily for the families I met.

 I made a poster for my clinic door that has been a GREAT conversation starter...to students and adults alike. I LOVE when someone asks me what the poster is about.

Blue Skies Nostalgia is real. It is an experience that never leaves you. More weeks next year means more need for volunteers. Please consider spending a life changing week being a Blue Skies volunteer.