I am very blessed to be apart of Crossed Out Student Ministries at Sun Valley Church. And I was lucky to get to go on the Seriously Retreat. And boy did I have a great time. The students were so excited to be up at Camp Dudley and they were even more excited to learn about the book of Jonah. I was also excited to learn about him too. Being a newer Christian, I hadn't gotten they oppurtnity to learn about him other then when I was working in the Preschool Sunday School. So I was very excited about it.
Day One
We left for Camp Dudley at 3 on Thursday afternoon. After a quick stop at the mini mart on the way up we were headed to the wilderness. About 7 summers ago I worked up at Camp Dudley... So I was ready to get back to the beautiful place that changed my life. I was driving the girls which included my Sisters and Little K. We talked and laughed all the way up. After about an hour we arrived at the camp. We were staying in Shinn Lodge, we set up camp... (which consisted of rolling our sleeping bag out on bunk beds on the Girls' side of the dorm) Headed down stairs and played a could of games of Mafia (Harry Potter, and Dora the Explorer Type Mafia haha). Dinner was ready and we had steak quesadillas... Oh camp food how I have missed you!!! We ate and gathered for our first night of worship and our first taste of how God worked in Jonah's life.
I just have to say that Rick (Youth Pastor) did an amazing job. We spent 3 entire days in a 4 verse book. He was able to pull so much out of a passage that normally takes 15 minutes to read. We sang and listened to Rick preach. What a great time. A time to listen and praise God for being so compassionate, and for giving mercy to all. Even to all of Ninevah. We listened to Rick talk about Running from God. And boy that message hit me really hard. There are things that I do and I know I shouldn't and it's exactly like I am running from God. Filling my mind with useless TV, and music when I could be spending time with the Lord. Not praying enough, and spending enough time in the Word. We finished up with sometime to reflect, and pray, and ask forgiveness. Sang some more...
The night only got better when we headed outside for a game of sardines, and capture the flag. It was dark out, and the sky was the prettiest thing I have even seen. The sky is one of the reason I love being up in the mountains. There is nothing to obscure the stars beauty and it just reminds me of much time and care God took when He created the stars. The games of sardines went off without a hitch. No one injured or scared. haha... Well actually I did have a fright. Michaela and I were following Mark around... Hoping that he would stumble across the hiding Alex... when Mark was shining his flash light up into the hills side... my flashlight was following behind, and what did we spot what a set of freaking looking eyes.... When I took my light way, and said "did you see those eyes?" Instantly I was freaked... Mark answered, "You saw them too..." He asked me to shine my high powered flash light up there again... We thought that it would be safe to throw a huge rock at whatever it was, that was getting closer and closer to us... So lets just say for the rest of the game I was walking around with my heart pounding a little harder, and I was a bit on edge. Well after about 15 mninutes of looking for Alex we finally stumbled upon him... He said that he had heard my sister and I calling his name... we happened to walk right by him... never turning our back from him... The games of capture the flag weren't as injure free... Nothing lift threatening or anything... I took a hard spill trying to chase down Steve, but walked away with a few bruises... Its hard to play capture the flag in the dark, and in the woods, but it was most definitely a very fun night.
We headed in around 12:15, and played a few more games of mafia before I decided to call it quits for the night. The kids stayed up until late, but hey its summer, and who cares...
(I had written more, but decided to post it in a different blog)
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