Another of many firsts

This past weekend was our first retreat with the high schoolers. While it wasn't what I would consider a tremendous success, it went well. There were some weak moments, as well as some strong ones. Probably the weakest link was that we didn't scout the place before hand. This lead to some significantly dead time on Saturday. It was so boring that some of us started to go swimming in Flathead Lake. Unfortunately, I was one of the few who didn't come to my senses soon enough. I didn't turn blue, but it was cold. I got out in a hurry, then jumped in again just to prove I could do it w/o help.
The biggest positive from this weekend, or one of the biggest, was discovering with assurance where at least these eight students are spiritually. At the beginning of the weekend I asked them where they are spiritually on a scale of 1-10, ten being passionately pursuing God, no holds barred, and 1 being I didn't even want to come, but my parents made me, and I'm not interested in following God at all. Out of eight students, we had everything from 1 to 8.5. Still, my experience with students has left me a little suspicious of students who say what the youth pastor wants to hear. These students, though, had none of that (at least, as far as I could tell). By the end of the weekend, my opinion is that they were brutally honest with me (us - Shari Shelley, and Andy), and I'm very thankful for that. It gives me a better idea of how to care for them over then next year.
The Jr. High Retreat is Nov. 10-12. I will be heading up to the camp we'll be staying at sometime in the next couple weeks to better prep for this event. That's important, because one of the things we'll be doing is having some of the staff dress up like dear and giving the jr. highers paintball guns. Yikes! I'm going to be the primary deer. If I'm going to get nailed, I will at least determine how many points I get. I'll think I'll shoot for 6.