Retreating with the Lord

This last weekend I attended the High School Retreat for ICSB as a chaperone. I did not quite know what to expect, but found that chaperoning is quite easy when the senior students plan it all!

The senior students stepped into the leadership role in order to plan a retreat for their peers. The retreat started Thursday morning after a bus ride to a local Bible College where we stayed. Once we arrived, we started with some games. All the students had on their green shirts (designed by a senior) and descended on an open field to play freeze tag. They played several games before we had some free time. Later, we had worship time and heard from our speaker. He began his series about pride.

We had lots of free time filled with games, both indoor and out. Friday we played some capture the flag and had a bonfire. At the bonfire, students were encouraged to stand up and address their class. They could say whatever they wanted. Many shared how the school, friends, and teachers had impacted their lives.

Late Friday night (actually 2AM Saturday morning!!) the seniors initiated the freshman. I got up to chaperone the girls. The senior girls had decided that blind folds, water balloons, and wet spaghetti would do the trick. Not to fear, after a little harrassing, the seniors prayed over the new freshman to welcome them into high school.

We left Saturday morning after breakfast and after the speaker finished his last talk. Throughout the weekend, he had encouraged students to take on the character of humility by giving and seeking forgiveness. I heard one student on the bus say to another that she had done that, but still had one more person she needed to talk to when she got back. I think the Lord was speaking to her. Also, the speaker had us all sign a banner with the names of people who had impacted our spiritual lives. These names were to be an example for us of how to be humble people. Wouldn't we want our names to be signed on this paper?

The highlight for me was the worship time. I just love to see the young lives calling out, crying out to God.

It was a long weekend, but fun. I just sat back and watched the students at work. I wonder if they know how much their teacher learned from them...