by Jodi Craiglow, on Stay PCUSA
At five o’clock this morning, I groggily beat my alarm clock into submission. I had been up until midnight the evening before, throwing clothes into my suitcase and making sure I had all the requisite materials and supplies for the upcoming week. And as soon as my mind was coherent enough to recognize that I was once again conscious, the anxiety set in once more. A few months ago, the eager beaver in me decided to apply to be a Small Group Leader at this year’s Presbyterian Youth Triennium… and today was D-Day. Time to take the three-hour drive to Purdue University for a week of… well, I wasn’t quite sure. I had heard reviews of PYT running the gamut from “life-changing blessing” to “den of iniquity,” and (as the icing on the cake) Jodi the introvert was going to be inundated with 5,000 high schoolers and 1,000 adults that she’d never met. Not to mention the wide variety of theological positions that I’d inevitably be encountering. Yeah — the mild panic attack last night was decently-well founded.