Adventures in Advanced

This past month, I've been attending a program called STEP Advanced. STEP stands for Skills Training in Emergency Preparedness. I attended the basic program two years ago, and this year I went through the Advanced program. 

It was a very good time of drawing closer to God through quiet times, group devotions, and classes. STEP focuses more on physical skills, while Advanced focuses more on spiritual disciplines and leadership skills. While I was at Advanced, I got to make many new friends, and deepen older friendships. Later, I'll put up pictures, so you can have a small flavor of what happened. 

I think the two most important things I learned during this month were: (1) lean on God for strength, not my friends; and (2) when you're feeling down in the dumps, encouraging other people helps. Another thing I (re)learned is that leadership isn't as easy as it seems. One of our topics during group meetings was leadership qualities. It was really neat to hear about them, and then watch the leaders actually live them out. My hope is to go back to do leadership next year, and be able to give back some. 

May you have a blessed day!