first retreat week

We finished our first week of retreat groups on Friday (the 31^st ) and now we're in the middle of our second week.   The last group was a youth group from st Louis, me and liz were on the same team for that one.  It’s fun working together, doing ministry together, playing together, teaching together, having more shared experiences together… It was a really mature youth group; we were blessed by them.  The last night was especially good when the group had a student lead impromptu worship time, followed by a time of sharing about what God had been teaching them.  (back story: these last four weeks have been filled with nature for me. I love being here and seeing God’s glory in nature every day. See previous postings.)  So it was a wonderful reminder when I saw the hearts of those students when they were singing to Jesus.  That God doesn’t give a crap about the trees, lakes, animals, or even the mountains out west compared to his love for people.  I don’t think I ever forgot that, but I definitely understand it a bit more after the time I spent with that group.  But it excites me that when we had the sharing time, most of the students were taught by God through nature… and I get to be a part of that…I get to take my passion for ministry, my passion for Jesus, my passion for relationships, and my passion for nature and compose them into Kingdom work.  I could go on about all this but I think it’s better left to conversation. 

Other stuff: Days are long, something like 7a-10p isn’t uncommon. Right now we work bout 6 days a week.  But most of it is not really work; its broomball, snowshoeing, tubing and fun with friends. Even so, we’re really starting to respect and understand “Sabbath” now.  We do our best to have a full day of total rest, so chores get done ahead of time. 

I keep telling liz to write in this thing but she hasn’t.  maybe someday.