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Youth Retreat
Saturday, November 17, 2001
It’s about 1:00 a.m. and I am extremely
tired. We arrived at the cabin around 7:30 p.m. Friday evening and then we sang
songs and read Bible verses from the book of Romans, chapter 12, verses 4-8.
These verses talked about our motivational gifts. The seven gifts are perceiver,
server, teacher, exhorter, giver, administrator, and compassion. This weekend we
will be discussing each person’s gifts and the ways we can use them. During
this weekend I want to give my all to Jesus and really learn and grow
spiritually.
At the moment I am sitting on the edge of the river doing my quiet time. We only
have 30 minutes, but I almost wish I could be out here for the rest of the day.
Just watching the river flow reminds me of how awesome God’s creation is, and
it bothers me when I think of all the people that don’t recognize what the
Lord has given to them. Ron gave us a chapter in the Bible to read, Psalm 139:
1-4:
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"O Lord, you have searched me and
you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts
from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar
with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O
Lord." |
Before we left for our quiet time, we had worship time. I was
really excited when I found out that I could play my guitar with Ron. I have
always been afraid to play in front of other people. Jesus says to use the gifts
we have to praise him, and when I started playing this morning, it wasn’t so
bad.
Today is my sister, Amber’s, birthday, and my Mom, Debbie Vaughn and Tricia
Nice brought lunch and really yummy cupcakes for us. After lunch was over, we
all went outside to play capture the flag. It was so much fun! Afterwards we
were very worn out with many scrapes and bruises, but the fun was worth it. Our
last worship time Saturday evening was awesome, besides the fact I messed up a
lot while playing guitar. It was still fun, and the songs meant so much to me.
After we sang a few songs, we looked at which occupations might be interesting
for us when we are older based on our motivational gifts. My primary
motivational gift is exhorter, which I found to be just like myself. Out of
about 6 occupations that went with exhorter, my two favorite were guidance
counselor and minister. I have thought about being a guidance counselor a few
times before, and I think it would be good for me because I love working with
and talking with people, and most of all I love to help. I think most everyone
found a few occupations this weekend that really stuck out to them. Saturday was
the last night, but probably the most memorable. Ron and Regina woke everyone up
at 4:00 in the morning to watch the meteor shower. Bridgette and I slept out in
a tent, and we were too tired to climb out to the field, and too cold to go back
to sleep. So we sat in Michael’s car where it was a little warmer and talked
for about four hours. I watched from the car window and saw about nine shooting
stars; they were beautiful. Some were little and didn’t go very far, but
others were very big and looked almost like they exploded in the sky. It was
incredible!
The weekend was awesome, and I would like to say thanks to Ron
and Regina for getting everything together, and for being the leaders God has
made them to be. I would also like to thank everyone who provided food for us
and for Bob and Marie for giving us a beautiful location for our retreat.
By Anna Blankenship
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