January 13-15 , 2006
The best Snow-less Winter Retreat Ever!
Winter Retreats usually mean that you’ll be doing something
during the weekend that will involve snow, ice, or any
number of the lovely winter substances...but this is
Michigan and you never know what you’re going to get by
living here. Alas, there was no snow for the Crossroads
winter retreat this year, but that didn’t stop us from
having a ton of fun anyway. We arrived late on friday
evening and were welcomed heartily by the Bair Lake staff.
After settling in a little we had our first session. We
started with some great praise and worship led by Dave
Faris and the rest of the worship team (thanks guys!), then
Pastor ryan introduced us to our topic for the weekend and
we got introduced to Lisa Velthouse, who would be speaking
on saturday and spending the weekend hanging out with us as
well. Pastor Ryan setup the foundation for our discussion
on the topic of Holiness during his first session. After we
wrapped up it was off the the dining hall for a great snack
of homemade pizza (yes!). After chowing down on some pizza
we headed back to the farmhouse (affectionately named the
"bungalo" by some) to play some games before going to bed.
Some went bed early and others laughed the night and early
morning away playing the one-finger slapping game and
taking flappy-face pictures. On Saturday we were up at 8:00
for a devotional by Chad on the exchange life principle and
how that related to holiness. Next it was a great breakfast
in the dinning hall and then onto our morning session. Lisa
taught us about the three hebrew words for Holy and how
each one of them were used. It was really neat to see the
meaning behind the words and see how they were used in the
original hebrew language. She also taught us that holiness
is about community and that we need to realize that we're
not in this alone, but that we should come along side each
other to help encourage our fellow brothers and sisters.
After session wrapped up it was back out side for a game of
frisbee golf! In January? you betcha! It was great fun
although I think we managed to play the course completely
out of order...oh well...Lunch came next and then we headed
over to the zip line for some more good times. A few were a
little apprehensive but once they did it the first time
everyone was hooked. We had fun trying differnt moves and
most started jumping off backwards for a real thrill. After
zipping..we took a break...some took a nap..and then made
the weirdest magazine people you've ever seen before
dinner. Dinner was followed by a skit show by the team we
had split up into earlier that morning. The pictures speak
for themselves here, but we saw some truly great acting,
some impossible workout moves, the disaster that ensues
when you let Hanz and Franz show you how to get ready in
the morning, and the a big surprise (and a slightly red
face). Many laughs and good times had by all. Evening
session followed and Lisa talked to us about the importance
of holiness in our relationship. She used the illustration
of setting up dominos to give us a good word picture of
setting up boundaries and what happens when things move too
quickly. After Lisa finished we "broke out" into guys and
girls groups and discussed the things that Lisa talked
about as they related to our specific genders (or as some
might say, "races"). After that it was time for another
great snack and then back for our final night in the
"bungalo" (also known as the farmhouse). After getting
yelled at the first night the late night crowd decided to
hang out in the chaphel this time and let the early birds
sleep in peace, many games where played, many laughes were
had..but all good things come to an end and the late night
crowd finally decided it was bed time around 3:30a.m.
Sunday morning we had our last praise and worship seesion
followed by a final wrap up session to tie everything
together led by Pastor Ryan. Then off to
brunch...yum...back to the farmhouse to pack up/clean up
and the out front for a group photo before saying all our
good bye and going our separate ways...It was an awesome
weekend for Crossroads...if you were there you know just
what I mean...if you weren't we hope to see you there next
year!.....oh yeah on more closing comment....
Girrr-affe!!
To view the photos from this
event click here
To view the hanz and franz skit
click here