GNET Beach Retreat
Last weekend, from Friday night to Sunday morning, I was at the beach with GNET. GNET, or the "Grace Network" (nobody calls it that anymore), is the group of 18-35 year olds at Grace Church. This was, I think, the fifth annual beach retreat.
It was so good. The focus was really on the Lord, and it was great to get together and worship him outside of a church building. Also, it was good to hang out and get to know people better. There were about 50 people who went, in 2 large beach houses, so there were plenty of opportunities to meet new people, to turn acquaintances into friends, and to deepen friendships. The latter especially happened on the 3.5 hour trips there and back. It's pretty incredible how easy it is to make solid friendships when you already know that you share the most important thing in life with the other person. And being in a whole community like that is, well, pretty amazing.
Also, I had tons of fun playing in the ocean and on the beach. Surprisingly, even in late September, the water wasn't cold at all, and the conditions were great for bodysurfing--a trick I didn't realize I could do. Cari and I swam quite a ways out into the ocean at one point. Dwight (and probably others) made a huge, detailed map of Texas, including (almost) all of the major cities and highways. (I helped him with the location of Amarillo and Lubbock.)
The most fun I had was playing on the beach. Erin started a killer game of ultimate frisbee on the lower beach (i.e. below the 2-foot-high sand barrier marking the high-tide point). I hadn't played ultimate in at least a year, because of my knee and all, and I kinda threw caution to the wind and played my heart out. It was such a good release. I've been wanting to get out and play like that for so long. Thankfully, I didn't pay the price for it, either. At least, not in my knee--I was wickedly sore later, and my heels were bruised from the wet, packed sand. But still--so worth it! (I still remember that game at bedtime, in order to motivate myself to do my stretches.) After we recuperated from the ultimate game, I started a game of hot-box with a football. We have some pretty fun pictures from both games on Facebook, thanks to our faithful photographers. :-)
Sunday morning, we got up, loaded the cars, and had communion on the beach at high tide. That is a rather picturesque memory. Some of us left from there to go hang out in downtown Wilmington and eat. We found a restaurant/brewery there called the Front Street Brewery. Much to my surprise, we walked straight in, Sunday around 1pm I think, and got a table for 16. The food was quite good, and we had a great time sharing riddles and jokes. After that, we walked the boardwalk, and then headed home.
All in all, it was one of the best weekends in a long time. I feel thoroughly refreshed and very connected. What an awesome group.
It was so good. The focus was really on the Lord, and it was great to get together and worship him outside of a church building. Also, it was good to hang out and get to know people better. There were about 50 people who went, in 2 large beach houses, so there were plenty of opportunities to meet new people, to turn acquaintances into friends, and to deepen friendships. The latter especially happened on the 3.5 hour trips there and back. It's pretty incredible how easy it is to make solid friendships when you already know that you share the most important thing in life with the other person. And being in a whole community like that is, well, pretty amazing.
Also, I had tons of fun playing in the ocean and on the beach. Surprisingly, even in late September, the water wasn't cold at all, and the conditions were great for bodysurfing--a trick I didn't realize I could do. Cari and I swam quite a ways out into the ocean at one point. Dwight (and probably others) made a huge, detailed map of Texas, including (almost) all of the major cities and highways. (I helped him with the location of Amarillo and Lubbock.)
The most fun I had was playing on the beach. Erin started a killer game of ultimate frisbee on the lower beach (i.e. below the 2-foot-high sand barrier marking the high-tide point). I hadn't played ultimate in at least a year, because of my knee and all, and I kinda threw caution to the wind and played my heart out. It was such a good release. I've been wanting to get out and play like that for so long. Thankfully, I didn't pay the price for it, either. At least, not in my knee--I was wickedly sore later, and my heels were bruised from the wet, packed sand. But still--so worth it! (I still remember that game at bedtime, in order to motivate myself to do my stretches.) After we recuperated from the ultimate game, I started a game of hot-box with a football. We have some pretty fun pictures from both games on Facebook, thanks to our faithful photographers. :-)
Sunday morning, we got up, loaded the cars, and had communion on the beach at high tide. That is a rather picturesque memory. Some of us left from there to go hang out in downtown Wilmington and eat. We found a restaurant/brewery there called the Front Street Brewery. Much to my surprise, we walked straight in, Sunday around 1pm I think, and got a table for 16. The food was quite good, and we had a great time sharing riddles and jokes. After that, we walked the boardwalk, and then headed home.
All in all, it was one of the best weekends in a long time. I feel thoroughly refreshed and very connected. What an awesome group.