Mango Smoothies

Today I began my day meeting with Karla and an alumni at Panera Bread to talk about an IV alumni reunion. I got there a little early to settle myself and take some time to check e-mails and what not. I went up to get a cold drink (since it is insanely HOT!!!), and saw that they had Mango Smoothies. Instantly I began laughing and knew it was destiny for this inviting beverage and I to share a moment at Panera.

Of course I'm sure this little story is vague and random enough to elude to a greater thought...and you are correct! you should treat yourself to a mango smoothie to celebrate! ^_^

The significance of the smoothie is not the smoothie in and of itself...but the Mango part of it. From now on and for all eternity I will have a special place in my heart for "Mango".

As I mentioned in a previous post, IVLI holds many wonderful memories for me. I talked about our community there; and now I would like to share about mangos.

Every staff worker at IVLI receives 5-6 students to be a part of a family group for the month. The purpose of family groups is to give students chill down space from an intense day, every evening during the week. It's to help them grow in intimate relationships with a few people that are not from there own chapter, and to be closely connected to a specific staff worker. During the month these groups cared for one another, prayed with one another, hung out and played together, and ate together...they were a family. Each family group also received a cousin group to connect with. These are very special groups, and great ministry, prayer, and fun happens in these places.

Today as the designated "Mama Bear" I want to brag about my family at IVLI.

Meet my family group:Veronica, David, Dawn, Emily, and Savion. These students are amazing people, and I was incredibly blessed to have them as my "kids" all of July.

Our family group became very close knit very quickly in the month, and also became very close to our cousin group. Our students would often go to a movie, into town, and canoeing together. We were a true family with a true extended family, and it really made IVLI special for all of us.

The Tango Mangos (my family group) were a collection of great personalities. When we would meet at night for our family time we would often have to close the doors because we were disturbing other groups by our loud boisterous laughter. We really enjoyed each other and laughed long and hard almost every night. Much of our laughter was spurred on by Emily's ability to one-up anyone in any conversation at length, and David's obsessive use of the word Mango. It was amazing. He could use it as a verb, adjective, noun...almost in any situation and sentence he would tack on "Mango". After a few days our group, and soon many in the camp, began using terms like "that's legit mango", "yo mango", and "dango". It was amusing and fun, and also led to our family name the "Tango Mangos" (which was also the name of one of David's favorite drinks from Inta Juice).

Our group was not only fun and full of laughs, but we connected deeply emotionally and spiritually. One night especially, after a spiritually intense plenary, I met with my family. We were all pretty somber from the service and there was a deep need to spend more time with God. So at 9:30 we went and sat on one of the beaches together and silently watched the sun set. During this time we also wrote out exclamations of praise to God in the sand and sang worship songs as we stood in the water of the bay. As the stars began to shine through the dark sky, we shared with one another how God was speaking to us that night. There were very deep and painful things, as well as exciting wonderful growth experiences, told. It was a time of great celebration, and great prayer.

Our group quickly became the staff worker's dream family group...well my dream anyway. We honestly and earnestly cared for one another, and we enjoyed being around each other. Often we would find ourselves eating together on a night we didn't have to. One of my fondest moments and joys of the tango mangos was actually while I was in a staff meeting during the students' free time. We were all together in the office and Josh (the director) asked how our family groups were doing. Just as he asked that question I looked out the window behind him and saw my family group walking across the yard together talking and laughing. I chuckled to myself at the beautiful irony of the moment.

There is so much more I could share about each one of these amazing students. I could share of the morning runs/bike rides we would take together before most of the camp was even awake, the prayer ministry that happened, the volleyball games and one up jokes shared, and the deep and transformative moments we had together...however this post has already become very long, and it would only grow an insurmountable amount if I were to do that.

Since being home, I find myself going on the porch at night, listening to the crickets while star gazing, and begin to think of my dear tango mangos. They all have a special place in my heart, and as much as I miss them, I am excited to see how God has grown them into heavy spiritual hitters for their campuses, and also for their lives.

P.S.: I recommend the Mango Smoothie...