Retreating

I seriously did not want to go. Before I even left the house I missed Chris. I knew that it was only going to be one night. However, on Monday night, Chris was so busy that he did not get home until after 2 AM; therefore I was not able to spend any time with him. I did not relish the thought of being away from Chris and trying to sleep in an old barrack style building with thin mattresses and squealing 7th grade girls. Tuesday afternoon I left with seventy-nine seventh graders for Camp Easter Seals in Mt. Juliet, TN. The purpose of the retreat was to get the kids away from school for time to bond and to grow closer to God. Of course I could not be opposed to the reasoning for going, and yet I still did not want to go.

As soon as we pulled up to the campsite dozens of memories, like a flowing stream, rushed in on me. I had journeyed to Easter Seals about fifteen times before, and each of those trips has special memories and tender moments that find me only upon returning to the site. For the duration of the trip I’m caught between living in the moment and forming new memories and being lost in reveries of those times gone by. And still I did not want to be there.

Of course there has to be a turning point. In any good story, there is a turning point or an “Aha!” moment. For me there were a few. First I will start with the more shallow points of persuasion. On any retreat there are competitions, and I tend to be quite competitive. The students were divided into four groups: Aslan, Gandalf, Nacho Libre, and Obi Wan Kenobi. I led the Gandalf group, and I must say (with very little humility) we rocked! We dominated! There were three group games: a water balloon relay, a name that TV show theme song competition, and an obstacle course relay. We won all three! Despite the fact that I suffered with a migraine for most of the time, I rallied long enough for these games and enjoyed our victories immensely! Other than the phenonminal victories, here are a few other positives about the trip: seeing my old friend John Moessner and learning that his sweet wife is pregnant with their second child, relaxing in front of the large stone fireplace, and late night chocolate milkshakes.

During praise and worship that first night we sang “Sweet Adoration,” a song that I don’t recall singing in years. In years past, that song has been quite successful in drawing me closer to God. On the whole, our times of praise and worship were great. Ryan Doyle, our 7th grade Bible teacher, gave a couple of really good talks that really helped the students to examine their hearts and motives. We had time in small groups to talk about what they had heard and learned, and my handful of girls had some very insightful observations and tender reactions to what they had heard and seen. I loved listening to them; it was quite wonderful.


So despite the list of protests that kept reeling around in my head prior to the trip, it was well worth my time and attendance.

Last night after I returned Chris and I went to our first community group. I think there are about fourteen people in the group, but only half of us were there last night. We were all supposed to bring 2-4 things to share that represented who we are or who we are becoming. We greatly enjoyed our time with this new group of people, and we both are looking forward to going deeper with these people and hopefully building some new friendships.

Tomorrow night we’re traveling to Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain for my college homecoming. Hopefully I’ll have some more interesting things to share with you after that little trip.