Church Retreat.
Well one word. Relaxing.
I drove up with the Warnocks, we left around 2:30. Hatzic Lake/Camp Luther is in Mission so it was only an hour or so drive which is not bad at all. We stopped at DQ for dinner, who would of thought Ashley (as in me) would eat a burger from an ice cream place, really that's just too odd... But I managed.
When we arrived it was interesting because there still wasnt' a lot of people there yet. It was pretty much just the Climie's, Petra, the Wiedenheft's and a few others. Ofcourse within the first two hours of being there, I already had mosquiot bites. Stupid things that like my blood.
But ofcourse everyone showed up eventually. We had our first chapel with Sam Rowland and he is a really awesome speaker. The main points were "Dont be afraid of death, but be afraid of not really living" and "Do you want to stay the way you are...forever?" Also he sang a song and a line really stood out to me, not sure why yet though.. Maybe because it's what I do.. "I grab and hold on to Your blessings instead of reaching out and holding on to You." So I thought about those things and pondered about them.
Later that evening I was planning to read my book on the dock of the lake, but the lake was just so tempting and Nadine was swimming, so I had to go in, and I did. It was really refreshing and much needed. Then Nadine and I ended up chatting on the dock for a long while and that was really good. Soon enough it was really dark. All the youth were up till really late though, even I and it was much fun!
Saturday was an early morning, breakfast at 8! But I got up in time even though I had only 4 and a half hours of sleep. Breakfast was good. Then it was Chapel again followed by "quiet time". During that time, I went and climbed the most beautiful tree and sat in it and read my book "God Chasers" (I have to read it for the missions trip.) And that was peaceul, but yeah that tree, wow, its great. In the part where I was reading there was some scripture that I really liked, it was Isaiah 6:8-9 "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying ' Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?' And I said 'Here I am, send me!'" And that just really reminded me of how God is waiting for us to tell Him and ask Him to send us places. And yeah that conversation ... Is one that I want to have with God.
Show me the way to the heart that I'm longing to know.
After that I basically just hung out with Kim and Devin the whole time. We just sat with our feet dangled off the dock and talked. It was good. I dont' normally get to spend time with either of them so it was great. Kim and I both got burnt, not tooo bad, but it's noticable. And so we decided to put sun screen on after we got burnt cause we are smart. And Devin got a tan line from his braclet which is kind of funny. I love them both!!
Nadine, Erin and Pam wanted me to join them on thier swim across the lake but I had to pass cause I really wasn't in the swimming mood. But I did end up going canoeing with Kirsten just to make sure that they made it across okay. I love canoeing so much, it's so undescribable how much I enjoy it. It's just so freeing. So we did that for an hour and had a good talk and a nice adventure.
Lunch and Dinner came and went and then it was Chapel. We played a game of family fued which was humorous. I love the people I go to church with. I love Jesus. After I was just sitting and talking with Kim, Sara and Alyse, then Nadine wanted to go sailing with someone, so I decided to go with her. And I'm glad I did. It was great fun. The wind wasn't the best, but we got some and did sail and that's all that matters. And she got pictures so that's good too! I love being on the water, feeling the wind, hearing the waves.
Campfire time!! Though it was really short cause the little kids needed to go to bed. We sang I think 4 songs then again the youth sat outside for long hours into the night talking and bonding. I dont' know how many hours of sleep I got that night, probably the same amount as the previous night. So really I got about 10 hours of sleep the whole weekend but it's all good. Camp fires are fun though, and Tera and I looked at the stars for a bit which I love to do as well.
Morning came fast. I had a quick breakfast then packed up. Then we had our last Chapel which was good, then I sat on a bench and talked with Dawn, Pam, Erin, Kirsten and Kim until finally the lunch bell rang. Ate, put belongings into cars. Did some more talking and sitting around. Then we left. I fell asleep on the ride home, the state where you are sleeping yet kind of awake at the same time... it was nice. The ride seemed short which was good and in no time, I was home.
I had a really enjoyable weekend, and I'm glad that I can continue to build the friendships I built at the retreat instead of it being that I never see them again like camp and such.
Failed to mention I have 80+ bites. I'm not complaining though. I loved how much "off" we used though, that's all one could smell.
I drove up with the Warnocks, we left around 2:30. Hatzic Lake/Camp Luther is in Mission so it was only an hour or so drive which is not bad at all. We stopped at DQ for dinner, who would of thought Ashley (as in me) would eat a burger from an ice cream place, really that's just too odd... But I managed.
When we arrived it was interesting because there still wasnt' a lot of people there yet. It was pretty much just the Climie's, Petra, the Wiedenheft's and a few others. Ofcourse within the first two hours of being there, I already had mosquiot bites. Stupid things that like my blood.
But ofcourse everyone showed up eventually. We had our first chapel with Sam Rowland and he is a really awesome speaker. The main points were "Dont be afraid of death, but be afraid of not really living" and "Do you want to stay the way you are...forever?" Also he sang a song and a line really stood out to me, not sure why yet though.. Maybe because it's what I do.. "I grab and hold on to Your blessings instead of reaching out and holding on to You." So I thought about those things and pondered about them.
Later that evening I was planning to read my book on the dock of the lake, but the lake was just so tempting and Nadine was swimming, so I had to go in, and I did. It was really refreshing and much needed. Then Nadine and I ended up chatting on the dock for a long while and that was really good. Soon enough it was really dark. All the youth were up till really late though, even I and it was much fun!
Saturday was an early morning, breakfast at 8! But I got up in time even though I had only 4 and a half hours of sleep. Breakfast was good. Then it was Chapel again followed by "quiet time". During that time, I went and climbed the most beautiful tree and sat in it and read my book "God Chasers" (I have to read it for the missions trip.) And that was peaceul, but yeah that tree, wow, its great. In the part where I was reading there was some scripture that I really liked, it was Isaiah 6:8-9 "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying ' Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?' And I said 'Here I am, send me!'" And that just really reminded me of how God is waiting for us to tell Him and ask Him to send us places. And yeah that conversation ... Is one that I want to have with God.
Show me the way to the heart that I'm longing to know.
After that I basically just hung out with Kim and Devin the whole time. We just sat with our feet dangled off the dock and talked. It was good. I dont' normally get to spend time with either of them so it was great. Kim and I both got burnt, not tooo bad, but it's noticable. And so we decided to put sun screen on after we got burnt cause we are smart. And Devin got a tan line from his braclet which is kind of funny. I love them both!!
Nadine, Erin and Pam wanted me to join them on thier swim across the lake but I had to pass cause I really wasn't in the swimming mood. But I did end up going canoeing with Kirsten just to make sure that they made it across okay. I love canoeing so much, it's so undescribable how much I enjoy it. It's just so freeing. So we did that for an hour and had a good talk and a nice adventure.
Lunch and Dinner came and went and then it was Chapel. We played a game of family fued which was humorous. I love the people I go to church with. I love Jesus. After I was just sitting and talking with Kim, Sara and Alyse, then Nadine wanted to go sailing with someone, so I decided to go with her. And I'm glad I did. It was great fun. The wind wasn't the best, but we got some and did sail and that's all that matters. And she got pictures so that's good too! I love being on the water, feeling the wind, hearing the waves.
Campfire time!! Though it was really short cause the little kids needed to go to bed. We sang I think 4 songs then again the youth sat outside for long hours into the night talking and bonding. I dont' know how many hours of sleep I got that night, probably the same amount as the previous night. So really I got about 10 hours of sleep the whole weekend but it's all good. Camp fires are fun though, and Tera and I looked at the stars for a bit which I love to do as well.
Morning came fast. I had a quick breakfast then packed up. Then we had our last Chapel which was good, then I sat on a bench and talked with Dawn, Pam, Erin, Kirsten and Kim until finally the lunch bell rang. Ate, put belongings into cars. Did some more talking and sitting around. Then we left. I fell asleep on the ride home, the state where you are sleeping yet kind of awake at the same time... it was nice. The ride seemed short which was good and in no time, I was home.
I had a really enjoyable weekend, and I'm glad that I can continue to build the friendships I built at the retreat instead of it being that I never see them again like camp and such.
Failed to mention I have 80+ bites. I'm not complaining though. I loved how much "off" we used though, that's all one could smell.