This weekend, I spent half of it with my fellow sophomores in some cabins at Lake Nacimiento. Can I say it was probably the best retreat I have ever been on? Well, I do say that for a lot of retreats, but I felt like I connected with so many people in just two days and got so much out of it. I felt a lot closer to some of the people, and it was a time where we could enjoy each others presence.
There was no speaker that I would fall asleep listening to like most retreats, and I didn't feel tired during small group discussions. That last part I could attribute to some of the deep questions brought up by the people in my group, and Ian definitely made me think a lot. Quiet time was great too. I went down the stairs outside to the lake where I either took pictures or just prayed.
We definitely did a lot together as a community. As bad as rainy weather seems, I would like to say that it forced everyone to be inside together. It was so much easier to talk to people because no one would wander off in the rain. Playing games like catchphrase, fishbowl, animals, and red rum were fun as well. There was also a competition to prepare food for the opposite gender. During that time, Andrew led us to create a tasty meal of stir fry, and desserts consisted of strawberries, pretzels, and bananas dipped in chocolate. The girls made fajitas, so we could put whatever we wanted in our dinner. They also bought ice cream for us. It was definitely great that we could bless each other by preparing dinner.
What was my favorite part of the trip? I'd have to say the last night we stayed there. We started worship about nine, and it became a time where many people started sharing their testimonies. I felt like I learned so much about some of my fellow classmates during that time. It was great seeing almost everyone in the room crying, including people I never saw cry before. There was also lots of hugging that occurred during the time. It was also encouraging for me to hear how much of the blessing our class and the trip was to some people, especially to those who are not believers but still decided to show up. God totally moved during that time.
Although I have already shared my testimony to some of the people there, I felt God leading me to share it with everyone there. I ended up sharing a shorter version of my short version of my testimony, so I forgot to mention some details. I also decided to mention some things I never really thought about mentioning until last night. As a result of making a last minute decision to do it and wanting to hear others share their testimonies, I felt like I did not share enough. I definitely felt more vulnerable sharing my past with 30 people, but I knew I forgot to talk about so much that I had to have people ask questions. Meredith and Michelle both asked questions, and Michelle reminded me of how much everyone really cared about me. They were both encouraging during that time. I felt even more encouraged and knew that I was supposed to share when Claire and Michelle told me afterward that they felt God wanted me to share my testimony.
This retreat was a time of bonding as a community, and also a time to learn more about God's love for us. God totally moved during the retreat. I'm already excited for the next time we do something like this. Although I've written quite a bit of my thoughts on the retreat, I feel like there's so much more I could write but don't have the energy to. If you were there for my super short version of my testimony, or if you weren't, and you would like to hear more, I would encourage you to ask me to talk more. I'd be glad to meet up with you sometime because I feel like there's so much I could share but didn't have the time to or forgot to mention them.
Anyways, I should be off to bed now...
Until next time,
Kenneth
Monday, February 21, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Another Post on Dreams...
Dreams can be a very intriguing concept. It's a place where you can have ideas, where stories come to life, where the impossible happen, where your worst nightmares may come to life, and where things may not make any sense. It can also be a place of self discovery. God can also use dreams to talk to us.
Recently I've been starting to type out whatever dreams I may remember and feel have a significant meaning. Instead of buying an actual journal, I just write one in my computer. If I look back at them, I think, "I have some of the most ridiculous dreams." Seriously, they do not make too much sense. Some of them involve people from my high school, some I haven't even seen since graduating. Some of my dreams have elements from video games being in "real life", and some dreams also have children being a big focus.
If I try to remember back a few years, I can think of multiple dreams where I'm running around in an urban setting, going through department stores or malls or hotels either trying to run away from something or searching. What do I run from? What am I looking for? I have no idea. These department stores in settings that remind me of Tokyo seem to come once in a while.
The last one I had with that type of setting was a dream about going to a conference. We were staying at a hotel/department store in a city that reminded me of Tokyo, but with smaller buildings and was supposedly two hours away from Santa Barbara. I decided to go to a random floor, and on that floor there was a room filled with stuffed Pichu. There were carnival or arcade games where the prize was Pichu, the floor was occupied by them, and they were hanging on walls. The room also reminded me of another game room I've been to in another dream from a long time ago, but remodeled and filled with Pichu dolls. Then I left the room to go to the top floor where my room was supposed to be. When I got to the top floor, I saw a glass case that jewelry stores usually have, and there was a section with no wall, which left the room exposed to open air. On closer inspection of the case, I noticed there was ice cream and other random snacks in them. Then some freshman girl asked what I was doing. I then explained I was trying to pick something out. She asked when I was planning on leaving. I told her I would leave on Monday because I would need to be back for a midterm. She then told me that she planned on staying for the whole conference which ended on Tuesday, and she was skipping a midterm for it. She then tried to convince me to stay.
About a month ago, I had a dream where I came back to the dorms of UCSB, except it was also transformed into a shopping mall of sorts. The top floor was the dorm lounge, but there was a handicap ramp down into the rest of the building which was basically the mall. I wanted to get the rest of my things, so I decided to go out the fire exit. When I opened the door for the fire exit, I noticed that if I took another step, I would fall down a few stories. The fire escape was to the side of the door instead of right behind it, so I did not want to risk falling. Instead, I decided to run down the stairs or handicap ramp. As I ran down each story, I got to the second floor where people were handing out free samples of candy and chocolate.
I also remember dreams where I was either in Japan or on vacation somewhere, and I just ran around exploring shopping centers or malls. There was even one where I ran around a fancy hotel with the walls being mirrors. I've also hopped between trains in some dreams. Again, I am not sure whether I was running from something or searching for something. I am curious to know why I would be running around in places like that. There must be a reason I would be going through the trouble of running through different levels, jumping down stairs or having parkour skills to climb up to different levels. Whatever the case, I find it amusing I would have so many dreams set in department stores/malls/hotels. I'm sure a psychologist would be interested in studying that.
Anyways, I should be studying for a quiz...
Until next time,
Kenneth
Recently I've been starting to type out whatever dreams I may remember and feel have a significant meaning. Instead of buying an actual journal, I just write one in my computer. If I look back at them, I think, "I have some of the most ridiculous dreams." Seriously, they do not make too much sense. Some of them involve people from my high school, some I haven't even seen since graduating. Some of my dreams have elements from video games being in "real life", and some dreams also have children being a big focus.
If I try to remember back a few years, I can think of multiple dreams where I'm running around in an urban setting, going through department stores or malls or hotels either trying to run away from something or searching. What do I run from? What am I looking for? I have no idea. These department stores in settings that remind me of Tokyo seem to come once in a while.
The last one I had with that type of setting was a dream about going to a conference. We were staying at a hotel/department store in a city that reminded me of Tokyo, but with smaller buildings and was supposedly two hours away from Santa Barbara. I decided to go to a random floor, and on that floor there was a room filled with stuffed Pichu. There were carnival or arcade games where the prize was Pichu, the floor was occupied by them, and they were hanging on walls. The room also reminded me of another game room I've been to in another dream from a long time ago, but remodeled and filled with Pichu dolls. Then I left the room to go to the top floor where my room was supposed to be. When I got to the top floor, I saw a glass case that jewelry stores usually have, and there was a section with no wall, which left the room exposed to open air. On closer inspection of the case, I noticed there was ice cream and other random snacks in them. Then some freshman girl asked what I was doing. I then explained I was trying to pick something out. She asked when I was planning on leaving. I told her I would leave on Monday because I would need to be back for a midterm. She then told me that she planned on staying for the whole conference which ended on Tuesday, and she was skipping a midterm for it. She then tried to convince me to stay.
About a month ago, I had a dream where I came back to the dorms of UCSB, except it was also transformed into a shopping mall of sorts. The top floor was the dorm lounge, but there was a handicap ramp down into the rest of the building which was basically the mall. I wanted to get the rest of my things, so I decided to go out the fire exit. When I opened the door for the fire exit, I noticed that if I took another step, I would fall down a few stories. The fire escape was to the side of the door instead of right behind it, so I did not want to risk falling. Instead, I decided to run down the stairs or handicap ramp. As I ran down each story, I got to the second floor where people were handing out free samples of candy and chocolate.
I also remember dreams where I was either in Japan or on vacation somewhere, and I just ran around exploring shopping centers or malls. There was even one where I ran around a fancy hotel with the walls being mirrors. I've also hopped between trains in some dreams. Again, I am not sure whether I was running from something or searching for something. I am curious to know why I would be running around in places like that. There must be a reason I would be going through the trouble of running through different levels, jumping down stairs or having parkour skills to climb up to different levels. Whatever the case, I find it amusing I would have so many dreams set in department stores/malls/hotels. I'm sure a psychologist would be interested in studying that.
Anyways, I should be studying for a quiz...
Until next time,
Kenneth
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