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
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