Pigtastic weekend!

What a weekend! 14 middle school students and four old geezers (myself included) spent the weekend at Silver Birch Ranch with 200 other middle schoolers for a weekend of incredible fun and spiritual growth. Our theme for the weekend was PIG OUT!, and our large group games certainly fit that bill. My personal favorite was our own little rendition of steal the bacon, albeit it with a 15 pound raw ham laying on a massive tarp greased with 4 CASES of laundry detergent! By the end of the game the ham had basically disintegrated, and most of the kids smelled like pig. Pretty cool huh?
I also enjoyed a crazy take on capture the flag that had pigs (students with pig noses on) trying to capture little red ridding hood from the wolves (leaders with years of pent up anger against students). Needless to say the leaders cruised to a glorious (although ethically questionable) victory. Oh and the youth pastor pudding wrestling tournament was also a neat little plus.

The retreat was not all about fun and games though. The theme PIG OUT came from the story the three little pigs, which is crazily similar to the Bible story of the man who built his house upon the rock (Matthew 7:24-27). We learned that we need to have a strong foundation in our lives, which is God. We need to get to know God, believe in God, and accept Jesus Christ as our savior, asking for forgiveness for all the bad things we have done. That builds our foundation. If you want a life that has a firm foundation that will keep your life from being a total wreck in difficult times then you first need to take those very important steps. We then have to build on that foundation by doing things such as reading the Bible, praying, and asking for help/guidance from other Christians when times are tough. This keeps us living the life God wants us to live and helps us be extra strong when people try to tear down our beliefs.

Our students were simply amazing on this trip, and we had a blast worshiping together, hanging out for hours during free time (many of us became obsessed with the game Apples to Apples, especially when judged by the always zanny Holly TB). A big thanks to them for their awesome behavior, and also to our leaders (Dan, Diane, and Maureen) for taking a weekend away from their busy lives to be a part of these students' lives. Finally, big thanks to Bob Swart for driving bus for us this weekend.