August 6, 2008

Free to Be a Slave

So as I mentioned in my last post, two weekends ago was our CAYP Retreat for 2008, and the theme of the weekend was "Free to Be a Slave." (CAYP for those who don't know is College Age Young Professionals).  We rented a house out on the Cosumnes River to have the retreat which turned out to be both a blessing and a disaster all at the same time!!!  
The place we stayed

The Cosumnes  River
We were blessed because the house is out in the middle of nowhere with hills and trees all around, and of course the river ran right through the property so we had the river all to ourselves.   The disaster was that upon arrival the lady told me that there was a pipe broken under the house so we could use the water during the morning and evening but asked if we could turn it off during the day.  Sounds good in theory , but when you have 14 people who need to do things like go to the bathroom, wash their hands, do dishes and shower throughout the day it's not as easy as one might think to keep the water off.   I had people asking me every 5 minutes to turn the water on for something!!  The other big issues were the swamp cooler which needed to be manually filled with water at least once an hour because the pump was broken and the ants.  But seriously, other then that it was an awesome weekend, and those are the experiences that drive you nuts while your dealing with them, but you can't help but look back and laugh at later!!!
One of our Lessons

We had a retreat committee which consisted of Dustin, Brandon and I, and we worked really well together which was great.  Brandon planned out all the lessons on our theme which he picked out and did an amazing job at presenting thought provoking and scripture filled lesson on what it means to be a slave, what it means to be free, and what it means to be a free slave in Christ.  Dustin made our song packets and was the guy in charge of odd jobs/tasks in preparation for the retreat, and I did menu, schedule, coordination and general keeping everyone on track tasks!!!
Enjoying Lunch Around the Table
We had 14 people come which was an awesome turn out and it turned out to be 7 boys and 7 girls, and 7 people slept outside and 7 people slept inside!!!  The weekend turned out to be relaxing, enriching and a total blast.  We had lessons, river time, campfire/devo, resting and relaxing, and lots of time to get to know one another even better!  Campfires were some of my favorite parts; I don't know if a person can feel closer to God then sitting around a fire in the middle of nowhere watching stars fall our of a clear night sky (I saw 4 in one night) surrounded by loving brothers and sisters in Christ.
My Car Loaded heading out!
Exploring the River
Do you see the size of those paddles compared to the canoe!?!
Isaac found a sliver of Gold

Just about the best sign I've ever seen on a road!

There are so many great pictures to share and stories to tell but they can't all be shared here.  I'm so glad I had the opportunity to spend a weekend with our awesome college group!

3 comments:

Timbra said...

that sounds and looks like so much fun, even the annoying stuff. . . . makes me long for a retreat with some people of our age too (but maybe not the camping part with the tot and all). glad you slipped this one in before your next adventure i was just dying for news of all your summer fun :) call me before saturday. . . anytime tomorrow except 3-4pm (your time)

Grannie Annie said...

Sounds like a really great weekend...I am with you on the campfire...perhaps we could have a list of places we feel closest to God.

Kim said...

i love the last sign, made me laugh :) glad you had a good time.