Fantastic Times All-around is what we should call this past FTA retreat weekend. I smell a recap!
It started with a tremendous drive out. The girls and I listened to the father-daughter conversation seminar from Faithwalkers. It was incredibly convicting for all four of us, and it sparked some really inspiring conversation...then we got to the cabin and caught up with the people who had already arrived. (They'd had a busy day of sardines they were resting from!)
Then the next day Rachel and I took a little run, which is always a good way to start the day. Then we made pancakes and french toast and talked for a little bit about what it was we were retreating from. It kind of started us off on a good note because we all got the chance to open up a little bit about what we need to get away from in our lives. Steve was the last to speak and he ended us on a fantastic note about his engagement with Beth and how God has been mightily at work in their lives.
Then we had some time to relax for awhile, some people played Alyssa's version of scrabble, while others took naps, and Jimbo, Jess, Will, Rachel, Maggie and Jordan went out to the ice to drill a hole. We watched from indoors with binoculars, haha. They were of course drilling a hole for Nicole's baptism! After they were done, Nicole got into her wetsuit (Rachel and I garbed up in our sweet, but unnecessary, waders (pictures will come later)) and we all gathered together and went out to the lake. Lee said some really cool stuff about baptism and we got a little bit of a chance to reflect on how much we love Nicole and how much she's grown this year which she got to share a little bit about as well. And then we proceeded to just baptize her!! She said it wasn't even that cold! What a trooper!
Then a bunch of guys (plus Maggie and Nicole) got the bright idea to make the best of this hole in the ice and hop on in, one at a time! So a bunch of people got in their suits or pajamas and just hopped in, I think we got it on video, so that'll be awesome (I'm thinking it'll be a gem for the slideshow!!!).
Then we played games for a little while longer, had lunch...had dinner. Talked a bit more, and at about 7:30 we all gathered around. Will shared his testimony with us, and that kind of sparked a match. We all, one after the other, just started sharing what was on our hearts or where God has been taking us. It was definitely a tear-filled night for everybody, but it was just so good. I don't think I've ever felt so close to 16 other people in my life. Everyone just let their guards down, and allowed ourselves to be vulnerable. Matthew 18:20 says that "where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." There were not two or three. There were 17. And God definitely made Himself known to us, He was undoubtedly in our midst. I wish I could relay to those reading this that moment, but I can't...I just need to get it down so that I won't forget it myself.
The next morning Rachel and I took a farewell to SoDak run, then the guys made pancakes and we all packed up our stuff for the ride home. The retreat however wasn't over for us girls! We listened to another seminar (swervers) and talked for a good while about that. We did this little exercise that was not just fun and productive to do, but it also helped us get to know each other even better! Just as we were finishing that up we saw Jimbo's Durango drive by with Steve's entire body flailing out the window. Hahaha, somehow they kept getting behind us and then catching up, so we had some fun with them on the road too. We took a spontaneous pitstop at Dairy Queen and hung out there for awhile.
I didn't get reception in South Dakota, so I found out when I got home that Hoops (and Jenna) had called. I got a chance to talk to Hoops for awhile, and share with him the goings on about the weekend which was a really good thing to do because it kind of solidified the experience for me! It kind of made it more real, if that makes sense. On a side note, Hoops also told me a bit about the gcm staff training in Champaigne and how that was, and seeing Bemi and JK and Nick and the other Christine. So encouraged that Hoops and JK are both taking this awesome step in their faiths. Two Godly men that are going to be future Karl Quickerts!! But in their own special unique way, of course, and that is so exciting!!
So in conclusion, great. This morning I was in my car listening to something, and the guy I was listening to asked "if you could have any wish granted in the world, what would it be?" and I really searched my brain to find what that answer would be, and I kept going back to those three hours Saturday night, where God made His presence so known, and all 17 of us felt so close to each other. If I had one wish, it would be to remain in that moment for ever. And wow, I get to someday, and that is pretty unfathomably incredible. I know that that sort of hope has come into me before and has quickly been shooed away over time - where I start seeking creature comforts and satisfaction from situations here and now on earth - but that just can't happen! I want to hold onto this hope that God has placed inside me (and the others who were there) and allow it to work through me to the max.
Okay, that's all I can think to say, except this: Live the Fight!!
