Andrew and Kori: August 2006

Wow, I don't even know how to begin to tell you about how much fun this weekend was. Before this retreat our class was split into many different groups of people who never really came out of their own groups to talk to others. Our class was very segregated. After this weekend, you would NEVER know that is how we were before. I really can't even describe, it is just so neat!

The boys played football on their knees while we were waiting for the bus :)

We came to school Thursday morning at 8 for a Senior breakfast and to meet and talk about our senior privileges. At about 11 o'clock we loaded a bus and headed to the mall to eat! After we left the mall at 12:30, we headed to Hutchinson Island. When we arrived at about 3 and had a few hours of free time to explore the hotel before we had our dinner cruise on the "Island Princess." The cruise was so much fun! We ate dinner inside the boat then we out on the deck and took lots of pictures! There was a 2nd story where there were tables and couches to sit on and enjoy the beautiful views.

Dinner on the Island Princess

When we came back to the hotel we had a meeting where they introduced the theme of the weekend, which was "What is your perspective." pastor Uth came and talked to us about being real and how we all put on a mask to hide who we really are. Then we had a break for about 30 minutes. We played ping-pong, ate pizza and cake for someone's birthday, and relaxed in the hammocks around the pool deck. That night we had another meeting where we broke up into small groups where we got to share what we thought was the reason that many times people put on a mask or aren't real. We finished around 11. After our meeting we had about 30 minutes of free time before we had to be in our rooms.

Jaimie and I in the hammock

Friday morning we had another meeting where a couple of the teachers shared their testimonies. All of them were so different so it was really neat to hear how the Lord works in everyone's lives. After that we all headed over to the beach where we took our class picture. We all wore denim, and a white shirt. It was VERY hot, but all the pictures turned out so cute!
We had free time all afternoon! We spend a lot of time in the pool and some of us went back over to the beach. The boys played keep away with a football in the pool, while the girls sat around the pool and watched them tackle each other to get the ball. After a while it got too hot so mostly everyone went back up stairs to their rooms. A few of the boys brought 500 packs of water balloons and had fun throwing them at people :) We spent a lot of time in the hallways playing cards or just talking. It was a lot of fun.

Jaimie, Tierra, Krystal, Me, Olivia, Elizabeth and Courtney

Allison, Me and Molly

Relaxing by the pool :)

Ping Pong!

Some of us playing Uno in the hall way :)

Friday evening we had a meeting. It was so good. When we came in, the lights were dim and there was soft music playing. We were given letters from our parents and from a teacher at school that was praying for us. Reading these letters made most people cry, but the crying had only begun at that point. After we read our letters our headmaster came up and told a story about his best friend in highschool. The story was about how they were best friends all through school, then one time they got into a fight and didn't speak for a long time. Before they went off to college they made up and were friends again, but because they were going to different schools their friendship never was how it was before. His friend called him a few times to hang out when they were home, but he never could because he was always busy. Then the next time he got a phone call from his number, it was his friends brother, telling Mr. Whitaker that his friend had been missing for 2 days. When they finally found his friend it was too late. He had been scuba diving by himself, and drowned.

Using the his story of as an example, Mr. Whitaker challenged us not to let that happen to us. He told us not to leave the room until all the problems were resolved with eachother. I never knew that there were so many hidden problems in our class. Everyone was crying and hugging and rekindling old friendships. The Lord worked in so many of our hearts and He brought our class together. I never would have thought it could happen because everyone is so different, but it did! Our class went from watching out for only ourselves and the other people in our "group," to watching out for everyone and protecting each other. It was such a fun weeked!

"Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

John 3:20-21