Winter Retreat Part 2

The games this afternoon went fantastic. There are four tribes in this Survivor game, and ours goes back and forth from third to second. I think we’re in second right now. Our team name is Just Jamaica, which is a step up from the original idea: Jamaican Monkey. It was a blast to play broom hockey (mostly with our feet, since we only had two brooms per team), “So You Want To Be A Millionaire – Bible Version”, and other such games. Broom hockey was played on the basketball court that we iced down. Andy said he didn’t get a six foot circle down before it was icing up. During the championship game of broom hockey, the game was tied, 1-1. I got the pass. I turned and shot at the goal. The puck went one way, my broom went another, and my legs both went two other directions. I landed hard on my right shoulder, but the force actually bruised a couple ribs. It was worth it. I scored. We didn’t win, but it was worth the pain for the shot and the glory.

We also iced down the water slide. The camp owns some foam sleds, and we went down the water slide in that. It was a blast, and we got some great shots, which will eventually be on the LCC youth web site… when we get it up and running. It was a very special time to take a student w/cerebral palsy down the slide. She loved it!

For more on the cold of the weekend, go to Shari’s blog, and read her post titled, “22 Below.”

Tonight I spoke on how God has invited us to be His Bride, but it takes our complete surrender to Him in order to experience His love for us. Among other pictures, I talked about how Arwen surrendered her immortality to become Aragorn’s bride in, “The Lord of the Rings.” I also shared some stories from my relationship with Shari, and how she returns my love so well. In the end, I challenged them to consider whether they’re willing to surrender all, not just those things they are comfortable with, in order to love God back in His love language. At least five students committed their lives to Jesus for the first time tonight, and the angels are rejoicing!! On top of that, many other deep and powerful discussions were had in small groups. Not all were positive, but they were powerful. What do you say to a young lady who doesn’t want to surrender all because it “didn’t work for her” when she tried it many years ago? How do you help a young lady forgive those in the church who have hurt her? All of these things have to do with surrender, and there are no easy answers. But our God is able to change hearts and minds, and transform us all into His image over time. So, we rejoice at the steps of discipleship that were taken, and continue to pray for these students, who are wrestling with so many distractions and temptations, including ones I have no clue about.

For those who are praying… thank, you. Your prayers are definitely making a difference as we battle spiritual forces outside our vision, yet even more real than the things we can touch.