At 7:46 last night, my days as an 86:12 student ended.
After seven years, countless rehearsals, a few tears, tons of hours, and one John Hewlett, I close the chapter on 86:12. The ride of a lifetime finished with a spectacular mission trip to New York City where I took a picture with The Naked Cowboy and bonded with 18 other students who I probably wouldn't have become friends with otherwise.
Looking back, I feel nothing but happiness and pure contentment. It was a fantastic run and I loved every minute of 86:12. But now it's time to move forward. I'm taking this fact with a lot more peace than I thought I would. I thought there would be an immense amount of tears and heartache. Yes, there have been tears and a tinge of heartache, but mostly, I feel happy. I'm thankful for what I had and now the time has come for me to start forging a new path. My past as a follower of Christ and the boost 86:12 has given me will propel me to get involved in another church in College Station. Though I will miss my Sunday nights dearly, I can't wait to hear stories from coming years.
I can't lie, 86:12 would not nearly have been has fun without my 2 family groups I was a part of.
First, Suttle. They saw the dorky 6th grader that I was and then they saw me through my slightly less dorky 10th grade year. I spent the majority of my time as an 86:12er in this group (5 years of laughter and awesomeness) and will always feel like I am part of that group. When I got moved out to lead a new group, I was devastated. And I was incredibly bitter about it for a good part of first semester. But then I realized that they weren't kicking me out of the family group; I had simply gotten married. I was once Suttle and now I was Sims/Corley. Part of both but had just changed my name. I will always love Suttle family group, even if I didn't spend my last 2 mission trips with them.
And then there's Sims/Corley. Or, as we like to call it, Los Niños Locos. For only being a family group for 2 years, we are a tight group of people. I love every single one of them and am so immeasurably proud of them. They are such an incredible group of people and I'm so excited for them in the future. Pictures of Sassy Kyle, interesting conversations on the subway, and pictures of sleeping people made up an important part of our mission trip. We all had such great attitudes and I will miss you all so much next year.
86:12 undertook some amazing feats. We ignored a man with a "Jesus is Fake" sign during our first concert in the city. We led 2 worship services that were completely student driven. We bagged hundreds of food kits, fed hundreds of mouths, and touched hundreds of lives in hundreds of ways. Soup kitchens, homeless ministry, retirement homes, and other various ministries filled our days. Basically, 86:12 rocked New York City.
Of course, we had our tourist things. We hiked around Central Park some. We went to Times Square. We saw a Broadway show (LION KING!). Some groups ate legit New York pizza while others visited the epic M&M store.
God moved in amazing ways in a dark place. 86:12 successfully found some dark. And we definitely shed some light on it.
Other random facts:
Ashley craves an infant.
I saw Olympus (hello Empire State Building).
New Yorkers like dropping the f-bomb. Frequently.
New Yorkers gave Sassy Kyle a run for his money on the sassy scale.
I am a basket case.
Leaders can be quiet. Leaders can be loud. Leaders can be whatever they want to be (within moral boundaries and whatnot), as long as they lead.
Friends come in strange places.
New Yorkers are very proud of the fact that they are New Yorkers.
I could not have asked for a better senior trip.
Some people over the age of 100 don't like to acknowledge the fact that they are over 100.
Old ladies from Brooklyn are hilarious.
You find strange things in clothes closets.
The end.
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