4th Soil retreat @ Bodega Bay
Last weekend my SG @ GrX went on a retreat at Bodega Bay. 12 of us rented a nice house in the beach community for the entire weekend, sat around did some talking, relaxed, and had fun. The most memorable things happened during group sharing. I went with the minimal expectations of just chill out, relax, soak in the jacuzzi, and make deeper friendships. Praise God, that when I left, not only was I physically restored, but I also experience a spiritual high that is another positive indicator that my spiritual walk has been on the rise since April.
Friday night was a short opening, E. came up with a great ice-breaker game where we all got to draw with colored pencils and grinned like kindergarden kids. When it was time to reveal the answers, my initial drawing and several other people's pretty good interpretations of "getting dental braces" became "Bart Simpson on Cocaine"!!?!!
Saturday we had a quiet time discussion in the morning, then based on that passage in Deuteronomy 8, it's a very deep thought provoking passage that reminded us of the graces God has given to us in the past, and that we need to know that God is in control, that men do not rely on bread alone. It's interesting that how the Israelites forgot about God's miracles for them multiple times just during that period of Exodus, they repeated make the same mistakes and requires a little reprimand from God or Moses to get back on track. In our present time, we are also of the same forgetful crowd, falsely come to believe that we've created the wealth and success with our own hands, but in reality those are just the blessings from the Lord on High.
In the afternoon we went to the Doran park beach side, J&A lead a great game of sand sculpture. Remember those mermaid or castle statues you walk by on the beaches of Monterey or Carmel? well, today we got to discover the artists within us and we divided into 2 teams and raced against the clock to win the prize of creativity and the "best of".. =)
During Saturday night's sharing meeting, we started with some praise and worship music, (great songs!) then it took us some time to figure out the low light ambiance and passed a mood candle around for the several rounds of personal sharing. I truly appreciate how people were able to open themselves up, without fear of judgement from the others, and just share their stories to encourage others. (can't say too much more here.)
Most interestingly, instead of a Sunday morning service, we sat around in a circle and verbally expressed our appreciation of each member of this family in Christ. Speaking of the love languages, nothing, I mean nothing beats having someone openly tell you that how much they appreciate you and what you did, and to know how much the small things you did have a big impact on others. The Lord called us to be the "salt and light" of the world, it's time for us to stop living selfishly but to spread God's grace to our surrounding people and environments.
Amen!
Friday night was a short opening, E. came up with a great ice-breaker game where we all got to draw with colored pencils and grinned like kindergarden kids. When it was time to reveal the answers, my initial drawing and several other people's pretty good interpretations of "getting dental braces" became "Bart Simpson on Cocaine"!!?!!
Saturday we had a quiet time discussion in the morning, then based on that passage in Deuteronomy 8, it's a very deep thought provoking passage that reminded us of the graces God has given to us in the past, and that we need to know that God is in control, that men do not rely on bread alone. It's interesting that how the Israelites forgot about God's miracles for them multiple times just during that period of Exodus, they repeated make the same mistakes and requires a little reprimand from God or Moses to get back on track. In our present time, we are also of the same forgetful crowd, falsely come to believe that we've created the wealth and success with our own hands, but in reality those are just the blessings from the Lord on High.
In the afternoon we went to the Doran park beach side, J&A lead a great game of sand sculpture. Remember those mermaid or castle statues you walk by on the beaches of Monterey or Carmel? well, today we got to discover the artists within us and we divided into 2 teams and raced against the clock to win the prize of creativity and the "best of".. =)
During Saturday night's sharing meeting, we started with some praise and worship music, (great songs!) then it took us some time to figure out the low light ambiance and passed a mood candle around for the several rounds of personal sharing. I truly appreciate how people were able to open themselves up, without fear of judgement from the others, and just share their stories to encourage others. (can't say too much more here.)
Most interestingly, instead of a Sunday morning service, we sat around in a circle and verbally expressed our appreciation of each member of this family in Christ. Speaking of the love languages, nothing, I mean nothing beats having someone openly tell you that how much they appreciate you and what you did, and to know how much the small things you did have a big impact on others. The Lord called us to be the "salt and light" of the world, it's time for us to stop living selfishly but to spread God's grace to our surrounding people and environments.
Amen!
Labels: Christian
-- posted by Pooh Bear @
5/04/2006 09:06:00 AM
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