Martin Luther King Jr's long weekend, Ben & I went with our church, Dauphin Way United Methodist, on their annual Winter Retreat in Lay Lake, AL to act as counselors (AKA "tribe leaders"). A large group of 7th-12th grade boys & girls and good number of counselors gathered together in the woods to worship under the direction of a great pastor, sing with the band, ate ridiculously unhealthy food in the cafeteria, slept a little in the dorms, participated in fun outdoor activities, & praised the LORD.
As a tribe leader, each adult was in charge of a group of kids. I had 10th grade girls, and Ben had 7th grade boys. To say that 7th & 10th graders are worlds apart would be an understatement....
Ben: "stop fighting; put your shoes on; did you shower this morning; you are supposed to be at breakfast already."...
Me: "Goodnight girls, see ya in the morning at breakfast" ... yeah, I didn't have to tell my girls to do anything b/c they took care of themselves!
We had vastly different weekends but I think that we learned from it & were able to relate with the kids & inspire them in our own ways. I have already said that I think I may have learned more from some of those girls than maybe they did from me, but I left truly rejuvenated & inspired to move forward from that retreat with a new spirit & was truly changed (and exhausted!).
The outdoor chapel where we had Morning Watch was definitely the most gorgeous setting on the property:
One of the outdoor activities was a rock climbing wall. I was dying to give it a try, but just let all the girls give it a go instead... several got to the top!
One of the most humorous parts was the annual boys vs. girls Football Games! to make it fair, they make the boys play on their knees! I should have gotten a picture of that part, but it had started raining by then... o yeah, it was muddy & messy & disgusting, but hilarious & intense! (Jr High Girls won, Sr High Boys won)... Ben helped coach the boys... he was really into it!
(you can see videos of the pep rally & football games here.... it's HILARIOUS & I'm sure I'm pretty sure I pop up in the background every now & then ... http://www.youtube.com/user/TheRefugeDWUMC)
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I was so glad to be asked to participate in this weekend & would love to help out again in the future. I was so glad to meet more people with our church & be more involved. This was such a wonderful group of kids that I was really proud to get to know.
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For anyone interested in the material from our weekend:
The theme of the weekend was the "Barbaric Surrender" and all the session talks were from this verse (Luke 9:23-24) "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life for me will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it."
Here were the rest of the verses & some subsequent topics we covered with our small groups while we were there:
~ Exodus 3:1-12 (Moses & the Burning Bush)
~ John 1: 19-28 (John the Baptist) "Tribal Rebellion"... How will you be different so that people see Christ through you?
~ 1 Chronicles 11: 22 (Benaiah) "Savage Way"... Are you out there chasing lions like God wants you to be?
~ Acts 9: 1-19 (Paul) "Soul Riot"... Do you need God to shake up your life for his sake?
~ Matthew 16: 13-20 (Jesus) "Risk Surrender"... What are some things you might need to give up to take up the cross of Christ?
