BOTR: Fun Times!

For all who doubted, myself included, the Battle of the Retreats was a smashing success! I had my reservations about two things: No boys, and mixing Jr and Sr High. It was such a great Retreat, that it warrants more than one post. So for starters, here is the run down of the weekend.

We, being the boys and the girls, met at the church for one last hurrah. The battle had begun. We loaded all 70 girls and 26 leaders on to 2 buses, and made our way to Circle Square Ranch. On the way there we announced the teams for the weekend. We also announced that the girls would be bunking in their teams. No big surprise... that was met with much resistance and grumbling. My group was made up of 6 Jr Highers, 2 High Schoolers, and 2 other sponsors. We made out way to our room, which was the Jail..."THE" cabin to be in.... if you are a boy. It was freezing! I really, truly thought I was either going to have to go home, or die. So while the girls were outside sledding, I scoped out other vacant rooms. There was a jail break... we managed to find a room on the "warm", "girls" side of the camp. Phew!

The theme for the weekend was Discipleship. Patty Racine was our speaker. (And her hubby Paul spent the weekend with the boys.) It was amazing to see these young ladies put in to practice what they were being taught. The went from grumbling about the assigned cabins to really embracing the opportunity to minister to their younger sisters in the Lord. It was great! A perfect example of this was during out Airband Competition. We had the kids make up their own groups... a mix of Jr and Sr High. It was mass confusion! It was so not working. So we asked if we should just stick to our teams. There was a unanimous cry..."YES!!!" Just 18 hours prior, these same kids were grumbling about the teams. Now they wanted to to give up doing an activity with their old friends, and do it with their new friends. So cool to see God changing their hearts and their attitudes.

The HS ladies really sought the younger kids out. They were leaders within the teams that had been created, and even spent their free time with the younger kids. Skipping ahead a bit... on Sunday morning there is a chance to thank or encourage people publicly. Also I time to share what God has done during the Retreat. So many times, the older girls stood up and with tears in their eyes thanked the younger kids for ministering to them. It was so neat to see these young ladies immediately see the fruits of their efforts. Not only had they spent the weekend ministering, but in doing so were ministered right back to. These JH girls really get it, and the HS ladies saw that first hand.

There were no cliques this weekend... everyone embraced everyone else. And being all girls, everyone felt free to let their hair hang down. No one was left out. No one was too shy to participate. No one was "too cool" to participate. It was awesome!

So what do 96 ladies do on a weekend away? Karaoke - so fun! So many participants. Kick boxing - OMW... so hard! But so fun! I would love to take classes! There is a Christian Martial Arts Studio here in Ottawa called Warriors of God. The owner uses the Martial Arts to bring others to the Lord. It has been something I have always been a bit interested in, but worry about what you are opening yourself up to from a spiritual standpoint. This guy uses the moves, but the spiritual focus is on God. Airbands - definitely a highlight. My group did Mamma Mia. Only one of the girls knew the song, which was just sad. I just hope that the video stays locked in a vault somewhere! Every single girl got right in to it. Even the more shy and quiet ones really brought it. Fabulous! And the dance moves?! Let's just say that things sure have changed since my day as a Met Youther! Dresser-Upper Supper - We had 20 minutes to make dresses with garage bags, duct tape and tin foil. So fun, and once again, no one was "too cool" to participate. Some of the dresses were run way material. Seriously. Speaking of runway, how could we forget the High Heel Walk-off. Some of these girls can really strut their stuff in 4 inch stilettos! Pas moi! Another highlight of the weekend was the Woman's National Pillow Fighting Competition. Now the pillow fight is a guys tradition on every retreat. It is huge! This year the boys were fighting in costume. Well, apparently so were many of the girls. Can I just say that I have not seen this much spandex since my dancing years. Where do the find this stuff?!? It was such a flashback to the 80's.... these kids never actually saw! Who am I kidding... there are sponsors who barely saw the 80's! Picture it: High school girls running around in spandex with their underwear on top (yes, on top) bashing each other with pillows. I laughed the entire time. (And the JHs were worried that the SHs would think they were immature!)

I think I can speak for everyone when I say we had a blast. Kudos to the HS Ladies for really bringing it this weekend. You showed what you were made of, and how you are letting God work in your lives. You rock!

For me, the best part of the Retreat was the Saturday night Worship Service. I am still trying to process the beauty of what happened that night. Once I can begin to wrap my head around it, there will be another post.

Thanks for all the prayers that covered us this weekend. God changed lives. (And the boys in particular all came home in one piece!)