Valley of Repose (pt. 2)

Over the weekend, the youth group I go to had a retreat. I was REALLY trying to find out what the camp looked like. I looked on the internet and asked around, but failed to get an accurate depiction of the establishment (did not look like what i imagined it to be). It turns out the camp was who knows where. There was really nothing around (one place where the franchises failed to get to…at least for now). The place was better than my lowest expectations, but lacked that ‘pizzazz’. What probably made the place look this way was the rain/snow (happened for most of the weekend). Friday was mediocre (for me at least). Nothing big went down nor did anything bad. The only real problem being that I was left with nothing to do (left to be a spectator n da mountain dew i brought was gone that very day). Saturday proved different. I myself am a night person, so I didn’t really favor the morning at all. Sure the messages were good, but I wasn’t quite active yet. At this rate, I began to wonder if this trip had any real meaning to it (i very much remember the thoughts running through my head). Thankfully, as the day progressed, it gradually got better. Making new friends while enjoying old ones. Doing a bunch of stupid stuff for the sake of it. As night began to fall, we had communion. Something I really never looked upon as important till now. But when Bret explained what the “bread” and “wine” meant in such plain words, it just hit a chord. Now way this is just another ritual in a religion. Rituals are always rote with diminishing significance to the person. This, on the other hand, meant so much more than that. As I prayed before the taking of the “bread” and “wine”, some feelings began to emerge. The o’ so familiar words of a song I heard not so long ago was playing. I remember seeing this video and being filled with such a soft feeling inside. Now as I sang the song, I was filled with such uncontrollable mirth that I began to sing with all of my heart, not caring who heard me. I could feel the tears well up inside of me, and actually letting them flow this time. I just felt so touched that I could only sing louder. At the end of it I just felt this overwhelming need to thank Jeremy Blount (my youth pastor) for leading me to Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord and Saviour……later that night, everything was pretty mellow and laid back (finally, some much needed rest). Something big was the fact that this girl, Amanda, accepted Christ into her heart (Yeeaahhh! Whoooo!). For those who think that this isn’t a big deal, then you evidently do not see the importance of it (i myself failed to see the importance of this until i began reading the book of Revelations and looking into the End Times) This girl made the decision of changing her life filled with sin, to live a life worshiping and praising the One who truly deserves it. Praise the Lord for saving a soul that night! Sunday proved to be righteous, but didn’t measure up to my expectations. The last message was amazing, but the departure from the camp was a little strange. We had a lunch thing when we came back with most of the people who went and their parents. It was an opportunity for us who went to share what the weekend was like. At first only a few said something, but when the final call was given, many stepped up. All in all, the weekend retreat was quite eventful. Saturday was the best day I had there, as was the lunch thing. (thankfully, i didn’t starve on this trip, the food was actually pretty good. 4 stars) The only downs were; the first day we got there (too much rain n too muddy), later at church on Sunday (kept fallin asleep during the message, too tired from only 2 hrs. of sleep. wasn’t up for much after that n only moved when i had to), the whole ‘team’ thing didn’t matter to me after the 2^nd challenge (lost interest, no one even won or got anything). This “Winter Retreat” was 10x better than last year’s. The other one was simply about having fun. This one challenged, taught, rested, entertained, and impacted me. Thank God this came out better than I anticipated it to be. It’s just that I have been so used to seeing everything I look forward to go up in flames. When I least expect it is when things turn for the better. This truly was a visit to a Valley of Repose.

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