It will always amaze me how annually gathering together with fellow Lutherans from around the state in late December can bring out the clearest visions in me. Statwide, youth arrive at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Lansing, Michigan for an event simply titled the "Gathering." One thousand five hundred youth attend for common reason: to share God's awesome love, and have a lot of fun while discovering new things about themselves. Over the past four years, I have learned to anticipate the event greatly, sometimes counting down the days for months on end. I have also learned, while waiting for varying lengths of time in the lobby to register I have developed here over the years are some of the strongest friendships I have.

Emotions surge through me as I catch sight of friends I have not seen for months, or often since the previous year's event. Laughter, recollection, and occassional tears pour out as we embrace each other, expressing how happy we are that we no longer have to endure "the wait." Stories about the trials and tribulations of our journeys are eagerly shared. Love radiates throughout the lobby, proving contagious as others are swept up in the thrill of recognition. We are no longer seperated by long-distance phone calls and four hour car trips; we are all gathered in one place. We feel complete. Despite the cold air rushing in the double doorway as participants lug in their baggage, these reaquantices leave me feeling the warmest I could possibly feel in the heart of winter,

Over the next three days, these friendships flourish, and most become closer than we ever imagined they could. My friends and I make new friends through small group study and discussion, through workshops with topics ranging from LORMM camping to violence in the schools, through toga parties, nightly concerts and dances, and through bathroom-stuffing contests. Late-night phone tag promotes meeting others in a way none of us would dream of doing at home. By picking up our room extension and randomly dialing three numbers, we may reach a room where there is a possibility we may have made a friend for life. People I may have never met otherwise are met here, because no one has a fear of reaching out. The only thing I do fear, is knowing we will all have to say goodbye, come the morning of December 30.

The last morning provides a flood of emotions as I hug my newest friends and make them promise to try to write or telephone me at home. I choke back tears, and sometimes let them fall, as I spot a particular friend I meshed with in our CLIC group. I am no longer just "Laura from St. Paul in Port Huron" because I - along with everyone else - is one in Christ. The past three days, at this point, blur into one which is filled with discussion, music, and laughter. What has made them so unlike any other days? Is it because none of us are afraid to reach out where God's presence is so strong? Is it because we all believe in the same unconditional-loving God, and no one can make us feel like our beliefs and ideas are stupid? Is it because of the respect we encounter and return?

I believe so. These are the reasons it becomes so hard to say goodbye to these fellow Christians. We realize we are now one in the body of Christ. We all know though, we will probably see each other again in the near future, if we let our roads cross. And even if they do not, we know we will see each other again in God's kingdom.

He will always bring us together.

Penned by: Laura Kain
Originally penned: way, way, back in the day