What a great weekend! It was cold, windy, snowy, sunny, windy and snowy at the same time and cold again! All on the same weekend. We had 114 teens at our winter retreat, along with about 35 staff members. We used every building on the hill and opened up an additional five cabins for the boys! By 9.00 pm Friday night everyone was checked in and settled in at chapel. The Lord is good!
Saturday morning began with a pancake breakfast and a chapel meeting that was both fun and challenging to all of us. Our theme for the weekend was taken from Romans 12:2 “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” Our speakers, Colin Ritchie and Aaron Woodring, challenged each of us to answer two questions: Do we love the Lord? Or do we love the world? 
Following some great singing and a thought provoking message from Colin Ritchie, the campers headed outside for the day! Although we didn’t have as much snow as the previous weekend, there were still some great attempts at sledding! Or at least sliding down the hills. 
Some campers made use of the climbing tower, but many enjoyed the warmth inside playing games and hanging out with friends. Aaron Woodring brought the message on Saturday evening and challenged each of us to live more completely for the Lord. The evening ended with a coffee house in the Lodge, where we enjoyed various flavored coffees, hot chocolate, great desserts, Christian music and Christian fellowship. The staff had worked hard to add twinkling lights, decorated tables with candles, comfortable seating and a beautiful crackling fire. There were opportunities also for some of the campers to share what the Lord had been doing in their lives. What a great way to end a great day!
Thanks again to all our wonderful staff who volunteered to help out this weekend. We could not do it without you! We pray that everything that we enjoyed this weekend will stay in our hearts and minds for a long time to come and that the name of Christ will be glorified in our lives! See you all in the summer!