Pastor Ron's Blog Entry Continued

It would give me a chance to spend some quality time with them, which doesn’t always happen, even though we do youth ministry together. So, on Friday, January 15th at 12:30 pm, I headed out with Jeannine and Erin (from Williamsburg CRC) and began my pick up route. I got Kevin, then picked up Janine, then got Ken, and finally arriving at Sarah’s place (from Kanata CRC) at 1:20 ish.

What follows are excerpts of a narrative of the weekend, with some pictures at the end with a couple of comments from yours truly. To read the complet blog and youth worker quotes/comments about the weekend, visit http://www.ronhosmar.blogspot.com/

Saturday morning came quick. 8:30 am for breakfast. Pancakes, bacon, porridge, OJ and coffee. A good solid breakfast that sticks to the ribs. Then it was time for session #2. We spent time talking about Experiencing God as we get to know ourselves. I’m noticing this is going to be a weekend that is going to challenge my ways of thinking, and that’s ok.

After more great music, and time to think about what [our speaker] Tracey had to say, we were sent out on an assignment to spend time with God. Several of us decided to do that by going snow shoeing. We had fun talking, throwing snowballs, and enjoying the wonder of God’s creation. The silence on the lake was wonderful.

[The next] session focused on Experiencing God as Love. We took some time to draw how we felt about God. That was a stretch for me who is artistically challenged : ). We then spent some time alone, meditating on Psalm 121. We are now sitting down in our common room after the session and relaxing together as leaders and talking about all kinds of different things. Nice to have happen.

It’s now midnight on Saturday. We have come to the end of a good day. I confess that I really was ambivalent about coming out for this weekend, but have come away with a blessing that I didn’t expect. I’ve connected with our youth leaders in a deeper way, and I’ve come to see God in new and different ways. I’ve been given tools that I can use to improve my relationship with God, as well as teach our youth group the same. I hope our youth leaders can get together a bit more often for prayer and fellowship and use the techniques we’ve learned back in Ottawa.

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Below is a comment from a volunteer leader who joined Pastor Ron on his retreat.

"I have been struggling to discern God's will for my life and to be content with His will as it unfolds in my life. Parts of my life are not how I thought they would be and it has often left me asking God why. My head tells me that these things are done for the glory of God but my heart often does not feel the glory in any of it. On the first night of the retreat, we were asked to write down on a cue card what we hoped to get out of the weekend. I wrote down what I hoped for; that God's will for my life would become clear. On the second night, we broke into small groups and spent an hour in Lectio Divina with our group. This time consisted of prayer, inviting the Holy Spirit to help us hear the Word and for the Lord to speak to each one of us personally. It also included times of silence alternating with the reading and re-reading of a Bible text (ours was Luke 8:22-25). While the verse is being read, you take note of a word or phrase that catches your attention and then repeat that word/phrase to yourself. "All was calm" and "obey" both stuck out at me. As the Bible verse was repeated, the meaning of these words became clear. I do not consistently pray to God and read His Word. How am I to discern His will for my life and be obedient to His call and be content with His plans for my life if I am not spending time with the Lord? I hope and pray that my experience this weekend will stay fresh in my heart so that I will diligently set aside time in my day, everyday, for personal prayer and devotion."

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For information on the upcoming Youth Worker Retreats in 2010, visit HERE.