I didn't plan to go on this Spark trip. Even though I had an amazing time in Longview on last year's trip, October is a really bad time for me to be out of town, and I determinedly ignored the repeated email invitations I received to join this year's trip to Hope Gardens Family Center in Los Angeles. Then, one morning in mid-September, I received a voicemail from Spark's founder, Molly Breitenfeld, telling me she'd been thinking of and praying for me and asking if I'd consider going to L.A. to lead a bilingual small group during the retreat weekend. This piqued my interest. A month later, I found myself boarding a plane with nearly 50 other women (there would be 53 total on our team) bound for Los Angeles.
We arrived mid-morning, ate a quick lunch at the hotel, dropped our stuff, and headed to Hope Gardens for "Sparky's Rockin' Rodeo" -- a night of outrageous fun designed for the mom's and their children. Spark Ministry functions in teams. We have prayer team, kitchen team, decorations team, gifts team, etc. The Rodeo Team outdid themselves -- clowns, balloon animals, bounce houses, cotton candy (which I had up to my sleeves before I learned how to use the machine like a pro!), popcorn, snowcones, hot dogs, photo booths, stick ponies, line dancing, etc. One of the case managers from Hope Gardens referred to us throughout the weekend as "Fun in a Box" and it was never more true than that first night. We ended the evening with an important Spark tradition, "Spark in the Dark" where we turn out all the lights in a large room, pass out all kinds of glow in the dark toys, and turn up the dance music. So. Much. Fun.
As we were putting stuff away that night and preparing for the next day, I hopped on the back of a golf cart and rode to the top of a bumpy hill. I was fine when I got on the cart, but couldn't even stand up straight when I got off of it due to intense pain in my lower back. It was frightening. On the bus, my roommate for the weekend, who also happens to be a nurse, handed me some ibuprofen with water, and told me to sit still. She carried my bag inside for me, and began the process of getting us checked into the hotel.
We had been assigned to a room with two other women, four of us total, sharing two double beds. I was so tired and in so much pain and all I could think was, "we'll never get any sleep that way." When we went back up to the front desk to inquire about the possibility of getting a room to ourselves, the lady initially told us the rate would be significantly higher since we would be out from under the Spark group rate, but she would check anyway. When I gave her my name, she said, "Well, we already have a room reserved for you that nobody has checked into yet." She rattled off a list of names that were supposed to be our roommates, and we said, "No, that's our small group." She looked back and said, "Miss Horton, this room is here, under your name, with your group rate, and nobody else is claiming it." I didn't argue any longer. We took the keys and headed up the stairs - grateful beyond belief. My sweet roommate spent some time massaging my aching back with muscle rub before we went to sleep, and I prayed fervently that I'd feel better in the morning ...
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