WINTERFEST!!!!!!

Things that I learned at Winterfest this year…

This was my first winter retreat! I’ve been on one around November and March before, but they were very different. Very not outdoor-sy. Very… boring. And certainly not a lot of snow OR four hours away. And this time, I got the priviledge of going with a group of AMAZING kids (and other leaders) and learning some amazing things.

This is what I learned this weekend (or SOME of the things that were just reinforced again):

1. GOD IS AMAZING. Totally awesome. And HE LOVES us SO MUCH. SO much.
2. Worship God with ALL of your heart, the way that you want to, NO MATTER WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING. You may be the MINORITY when you begin, but by the end of the weekend, you’ll be part of the MAJORITY. And really, when you are with God, it doesn’t matter which group you are a part of… because you are part of the Body of Christ and we are all on the same team.
3. Prayers are powerful. It does not matter WHO are you praying for or WHO is praying for you… because in the end, they are all praying to GOD, and they have the authority to make powerful declarations. The impact that your heart declarations being spoken out to God can have on the person that you are praying for is something that you might not ever actually realize.
4. God gives revelations when we ask Him too. He’s pretty cool that way.
5. God makes it snow. Snow makes everything amazingly beautiful.
6. Sunrise is prettier than sunset.
7. Walking outside in bare feet in three feet of snow in the morning to take pictures OF the sunrise, IS COLD… and not that smart!
8. A four hour bus trip ON THE WAY to a retreat is FUN without iPods/MP3, etc. On the four hour bus trip HOME when EVERYONE is sleeping, those things would be helpful/useful. BUT we did get creative without them (I spy, veggietales, cranked worship music, and the worship team practice… hahaha… for those who know why THAT’S funny.
9. It doesn’t matter how much you pack… at some point throughout the weekend, everything you brought will be soaking wet.
10. JUST because there is snow, does not mean that it is evenly distributed throughout the area in question. There COULD be a HUGE brick buried only centimeters below the deceiving layer of snow. When you jump on to this from a height KNEES FIRST, it is GOING to leave a rather large and painful bruise.
11. Slide tackling in snow soccer does not hurt near as much as it does in actual soccer.
12. Just because it is a winter retreat, DOES NOT mean that the cabins are going to be cold. BUT when the cabin is hotter than you’ve ever EVER experienced… Open a window for the night.
13. It’s hard to lead cabin devotionals when a) you’re not familiar with the story b) it’s the middle of the night c) a quarter of your cabin is sleeping d) a quarter of the cabin does not belong to your group thus does not care and e) did I mention you don’t know the story you’re teaching about
14. Threatening to take away your special leader name tag is NOT actually going to happen or affect your ability to have fun and hang out with your kids.
15. Telling the kids to shovel snow over the balcony on to a group of other kids who are talking really loud and being really disrespectful, MIGHT not work out. However… In my case, it worked out totally fine. I just recommend pursuing with caution.
16. Sleeping on a school bus could never be comfortable.
17. PLAYING the huge group game is probably more fun than sitting as a road marker in the snow, in the cold, in the night, by yourself, waiting for the kids who are playing the game to find you. BUT if put in this position, building a snow igloo pyramid thing will likely entertain you.
18. No matter what you call something (WINTERfest)… people are going to cancel because of the weather. Imagine that: It’s SNOWING… during WINTERFEST?
19. You may never expect it… but making a comment such as “you are a few cards short of a deck” can be the cause for hours of conversation, explanations, and confusion. Add in “my driveway doesn’t do all the way to the road” and you are SET.
20. Using a luggage bag as a sled WILL NOT ALWAYS work… but will make for some pretty fun videos and pictures.
21. No matter how big and how hard a hill was to get UP… getting down on the snow via sliding, running, sledding, jumping, etc, will make up for the trek.
22. Just because a young teenager is not MEANT to fit through the guard bars on bunk beds doesn’t mean that they can’t try, get stuck, make it through, than be asked to do it all over again for pictures.
23. If you run outside of the cabin in just a towel, your leaders WILL lock the door on you, or otherwise instruct fellow cabin mates to do it for them.
And last… certainly last but NOT least…
24. If you’re told not to bring your cell phone somewhere, you probably shouldn’t bring it. No matter what the advice of the random lady waiting in front of you in line at the grocery store might say.

God did SO much amazing things this weekend. No matter how much fun we did have, the bottom line was that we were there for God. God wanted us to have fun, but we also learned SO much about Him, sang praises to Him with all of our hearts, and allowed for Him to bring revelation. I’ve changed as a result of this weekend and it is amazing to also be able to see God changing in others.