RETREAT!!!
ok... so it's been long enough, huh? :D
well, by now i guess yall know i've been sorta busy lately doin... stuff ;) ya, this would be Gabriel your 2005 Maroon Angel speaking, and just gotta say the weekend was GREAT!!!
oh and since the cat's FINALLY out of the bag, seemingly to EVERYONE, just gotta spread my JOY that steph and i will be going out... sometime next weekend :) it was SO HARD waiting for end of angel staff, cuz u (talkin to steph here ;) ) i've liked u for a good while now, but we also didn't wanna cause a rift in meetings and stuff. in any case, i CAN'T wait for next weekend!!!!!
ok, lets see, where to start? well i guess it started with me showing up at the church and gettin on the bus; i sat initially w/ john g and alex milhomens (so many john/jons and alexes...) and i got bored fast, alex fell asleep and john moved, so i decided to go to sleep too... at least until steph came up :) ya that made my ride SOOOOOOOOOO much better! i don't think i can get tired of talking when steph's around... anyways, we got to the retreat site, and after we played a humiliating ice breaker (which worked very well btw, as it seemed everyone this weekend was willing to open up) and an agape dance (unspeakable love), zack and aaron leapt into their awesome talk, which was just a taste of how great this retreat would be. after another dance (second nature) and getting pillows from the angels (one guess as to who gave me mine ;) ), it was off to bed
the next day i woke up WAY too early, but it's all good cuz that's just what we do at retreats... got breakfast, then i got to do my talk, which everyone says went really well, so i'm glad to hear that :) then after a short break and activity (oh ya and there was a game before my talk, hmmm o well), twas time for tammy and suzie to talk. tammy naturally rocked, i'm constantly astounded at how she manages to keep rolling with the punches that seem to keep showing up in her life; likewise, i gained even more respect for suzie; i had never known all of the things she's gone through, she's SO STRONG!!!
then LUNCH which was the best,and i played basketball and basically missed practice for the senior dance *frown* o well that was fun... after that i showered and just sorta thought for the rest of free time and coming up w/ excuses for inquiring minds who thought i might be an angel... then kim and beth's talk came, and again i was reminded of how kim has had her hard times in the past... kim i LOVE YOU!!! i'm just so glad u were able to pull yourself out of that place u were, cuz otherwise we would all be missing out BIG time on a beautiful person. beth, as usual, also gave a very strong talk; she rocks so much!!!
then open mike for a while, and that led up to dinner...unfortunately right about then hugo got sick, which sucked cuz he's such an awesome guy and it's such a shame that he couldn't be there for the majority of the evening *tear* oh well, the lasagna was great, and then we got to roland and carlo's talk. well a wise man once said this (and he knows who he is ;) ): WOW. that's just all i have to say about both of them and their talks and stories... just beautiful examples of what God can work in ANYONE'S life and what TRUE faith is... that's y when they asked "how strong is ur faith"... well, i said i don't know; my faith hasn't been tested yet. i know it will be some day, and i guess then i'll finally know... but i just can't say yet.
then of course came the reconciliation service, which, as usual, rocked... and it really was harrowing, as i realized a lot of the things i was hoping to symbolically burn last year i was AGAIN bringing to the cross... did i really WASTE a year? i mean, i had fun this year and stuff, had some great experiences... but did i actually grow closer to God?
Well, that of course just left angel revealing... we did it inside cuz it was pouring... in any case, i didn't cry as much as i thought i would... i guess maybe i actually was ready, cuz i know i had cried on thursday at john's house REALLY badly... i'm sure it'll prolly hit me again, but as of right now... idunno, i'm kinda glad to be able to finally tell ppl i've been praying for them all year. :) mari, shannon, john g., EVERYONE I LOVE YOU!!!! never let urself think ur alone, cuz ur not!!! i'll ALWAYS stand w/ u!!! then our GAs came out... my mom, Rose, and bekah's mom, debbie, had already came out, but we also found out about aaron, carlo, jose and beth... all of whom rank on my list of top ppl in the whole world!!!! plus asking out steph finally capped an all around great day!!!
then, this morning... um twas a blur, just glad i got to sit w/ steph on the ride up :)um... ya then reunion, we did the dance again, and random stuff was done and cold food was eaten... we went home, then i went to go practice driving and drove all the way to steph's and back, which was interesting... she's got a BIG house, yall...
um ya... that was my weekend, GO PATRIOTS!!!
well, by now i guess yall know i've been sorta busy lately doin... stuff ;) ya, this would be Gabriel your 2005 Maroon Angel speaking, and just gotta say the weekend was GREAT!!!
oh and since the cat's FINALLY out of the bag, seemingly to EVERYONE, just gotta spread my JOY that steph and i will be going out... sometime next weekend :) it was SO HARD waiting for end of angel staff, cuz u (talkin to steph here ;) ) i've liked u for a good while now, but we also didn't wanna cause a rift in meetings and stuff. in any case, i CAN'T wait for next weekend!!!!!
ok, lets see, where to start? well i guess it started with me showing up at the church and gettin on the bus; i sat initially w/ john g and alex milhomens (so many john/jons and alexes...) and i got bored fast, alex fell asleep and john moved, so i decided to go to sleep too... at least until steph came up :) ya that made my ride SOOOOOOOOOO much better! i don't think i can get tired of talking when steph's around... anyways, we got to the retreat site, and after we played a humiliating ice breaker (which worked very well btw, as it seemed everyone this weekend was willing to open up) and an agape dance (unspeakable love), zack and aaron leapt into their awesome talk, which was just a taste of how great this retreat would be. after another dance (second nature) and getting pillows from the angels (one guess as to who gave me mine ;) ), it was off to bed
the next day i woke up WAY too early, but it's all good cuz that's just what we do at retreats... got breakfast, then i got to do my talk, which everyone says went really well, so i'm glad to hear that :) then after a short break and activity (oh ya and there was a game before my talk, hmmm o well), twas time for tammy and suzie to talk. tammy naturally rocked, i'm constantly astounded at how she manages to keep rolling with the punches that seem to keep showing up in her life; likewise, i gained even more respect for suzie; i had never known all of the things she's gone through, she's SO STRONG!!!
then LUNCH which was the best,and i played basketball and basically missed practice for the senior dance *frown* o well that was fun... after that i showered and just sorta thought for the rest of free time and coming up w/ excuses for inquiring minds who thought i might be an angel... then kim and beth's talk came, and again i was reminded of how kim has had her hard times in the past... kim i LOVE YOU!!! i'm just so glad u were able to pull yourself out of that place u were, cuz otherwise we would all be missing out BIG time on a beautiful person. beth, as usual, also gave a very strong talk; she rocks so much!!!
then open mike for a while, and that led up to dinner...unfortunately right about then hugo got sick, which sucked cuz he's such an awesome guy and it's such a shame that he couldn't be there for the majority of the evening *tear* oh well, the lasagna was great, and then we got to roland and carlo's talk. well a wise man once said this (and he knows who he is ;) ): WOW. that's just all i have to say about both of them and their talks and stories... just beautiful examples of what God can work in ANYONE'S life and what TRUE faith is... that's y when they asked "how strong is ur faith"... well, i said i don't know; my faith hasn't been tested yet. i know it will be some day, and i guess then i'll finally know... but i just can't say yet.
then of course came the reconciliation service, which, as usual, rocked... and it really was harrowing, as i realized a lot of the things i was hoping to symbolically burn last year i was AGAIN bringing to the cross... did i really WASTE a year? i mean, i had fun this year and stuff, had some great experiences... but did i actually grow closer to God?
Well, that of course just left angel revealing... we did it inside cuz it was pouring... in any case, i didn't cry as much as i thought i would... i guess maybe i actually was ready, cuz i know i had cried on thursday at john's house REALLY badly... i'm sure it'll prolly hit me again, but as of right now... idunno, i'm kinda glad to be able to finally tell ppl i've been praying for them all year. :) mari, shannon, john g., EVERYONE I LOVE YOU!!!! never let urself think ur alone, cuz ur not!!! i'll ALWAYS stand w/ u!!! then our GAs came out... my mom, Rose, and bekah's mom, debbie, had already came out, but we also found out about aaron, carlo, jose and beth... all of whom rank on my list of top ppl in the whole world!!!! plus asking out steph finally capped an all around great day!!!
then, this morning... um twas a blur, just glad i got to sit w/ steph on the ride up :)um... ya then reunion, we did the dance again, and random stuff was done and cold food was eaten... we went home, then i went to go practice driving and drove all the way to steph's and back, which was interesting... she's got a BIG house, yall...
um ya... that was my weekend, GO PATRIOTS!!!