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(I realize this post is late. I forgot to do it yesterday)
Ministry Activities: Retreat- 23 hours

Personal Reflection:
This past weekend was our annual youth group retreat. We usually go to a church campground a have several lessons and activities planned. This year, our main leader's are planning their daughters wedding, so we decided to go to the Creation Museum instead of our normal retreat. We left on Friday evening about 5 p.m. It was raining when we left and it rained the whole drive down. I had to drive and I was following the person in front of me. I can honestly say that at times I was really scared because I could not see the road or the person I was supposed to be following. Plus, I had 5 teens in my van and (being all boys) they were pretty rowdy. Several times I had to tell them to calm down because I needed to focus on what was on the road. I did get really good at blocking them out, though.

When we finally got to the campgrounds it was still raining. We unpacked, then I went with another adult leader to get milk and juice for breakfast in the morning. When we got back, we played Scattergories as one big group. It was a really good time.

The next morning we got up early and got ready to go. We ate breakfast and headed out. We had to drive about 90 more minutes to get to the Creation Museum. I was so thankful when we started seeing signs for it because we were all so restless. When we got there, we went in and got our tickets, made a bathroom stop, and began looking at all there was to see. We first watched a movie that argued for creationism. I warned the kids ahead of time that it was a little cheesy, but they ended up loving it. When the movie talked about Noah and the ark the viewers got sprayed in the face. They are still talking about that movie. Next we ate lunch, then actually went into the "creation story" part of the museum. It was really long and there is a lot of reading, which I tried to warn them about. They enjoyed it and said they learned a lot, but they would rush ahead then just sit and wait for the rest of us. I was okay with it as long as they were with someone else the whole time, and they pretty much stayed together as a group. Then we went outside to take pictures if the botanical garden and we went to the petting zoo. For teenagers, you would have thought this would have been boring, but they had so much fun! They fed the animals and pet them and asked questions to the keepers. I think they had a really good time.

That night we were all really tired, so we watched 2 movies and played some games, then went to bed early.

Spiritual Reflection: Since retreat, I have really been admiring God's creation. We so often forget to appreciate the little things, like the birds singing, or a blue sky, or the full moon. I have really been enjoying God's creation as I walk to class each day. Retreat is always really tiring but really fun and interesting. So I have been busy catching up on sleep and trying to stay focused on what we learned. I know we can all get cranky when we are on retreat because of the lack of sleep and the amount of time spent with people we are not used to, but it turned out really well.

Also, one of my friend's from high school had cancer in her thyroid while we were in high school. Last Thursday, she called me to tell me the doctors thought the cancer had come back and that it was in her lymph node. Needless to say, I was freaking out. I had several people praying for her and was so worried at the same time. I trusted that God had a plan, but my friend is not a believer and I knew that having cancer again would completely turn her away from God. On Tuesday she had a biopsy, and there is no cancer. All week I have been praising God for answers to prayer. I was so relieved when I heard the good news. My only prayer is that she will recall this time later in life and realize there is a God who loves her.

Praise God!!!