The Feast takes a lot of preparation and planning, both by the Church and each individual who attends. And then before you know it, the time has come to return to our homes and back to the world we left behind. It’s always the same—it goes by very quickly!

How does one capture the significant aspects of the Feast, including the people we fellowship with and the sermons we hear? I ask myself this every year. How can I keep it all from slipping away and out of my mind once other things come crowding in, for instance our daily responsibilities just to keep up with our everyday lives.

For one thing, you have to realize you can’t hold on to it all. You are in the moment at the Feast, and our minds are limited. It is hard to hold on to what is significant.

One of the sermons in Oceanside was a description of how God meant it to be this way—the hustle and bustle of getting to and participating in the Feast. Then it is quickly over.

First, contemplate what most impacted your own life. Remember the people who tell you of a trial or health problem. Write it down and pray for them when you get home.

Did a sermon hit you square between the eyes, a weakness you realize you need to work on? Maybe there is quality you want to strengthen in your life to grow in God’s character?

Review your notes, and read the scriptures. One thing I try to do is to write out a brief “nugget” from each message. Think of God planting little seeds in your brain during the Feast that can grow and take root throughout the year, and blossom into fruit to please Him.

We come to be trained to become “trainers” for the world tomorrow, and then we return home. Yes, it’s over quickly. But we can then continue in our preparations for the future God has for us through our Bible study, prayers and continuing to live God’s way on a daily basis. We do this by following in Christ’s footsteps.

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6-7).