Busy Weekend

I'm still recovering from this past weekend and none of it has to do with Wheaton College.

On Sunday I had the privilege of going along on the annual Hyacks Kickoff retreat. We loaded up the busses at 7 in the morning to head out to Dixon Valley, a summer camp of sorts. In all, there were nearly 150 of us, including about 120 students, so you can imagine the hassle involved with getting everybody loaded up and relocated 50 miles away and getting them back again without losing one or two. Although Jonny was never prepared for anything of the magnitude in Wallace, he handled the job of ringleader expediently and admirably, and the days activities went on without a hitch.

The day started out with a time of worship through singing and teaching. Jonny expounded on the mission statement of Hyacks through one of my favorite passages in the Bible, in Matthew six. The well-known "Seek ye first the kingdom of God..." is much more than just a catchy tune, it should be our ultimate goal as Christians. In every aspect of life we have an opportunity to advance God's kingdom. I really enjoyed and was convicted by Jonny warning to avoid living a compartmentalized life, where our spiritual life may be given top priority, but it stays separate from the rest of life. The kingdom of Christ is not only the most important part of life, for us as Christians, it is life.

After that our big group was split up into small groups and we went over the small group purposes and goals, as well as participating in a few fun bonding activities, like archery and softball. The day was capped off by several competitive games between the groups. I don't have time to explain most of the games right now, but they were pretty barbaric. I refereed a game called "Amazon Women" just to give you an idea of the time of games they were. The final game consisted of a huge tarp covered in soap, bubble liquid, lard, oil, and other slimy substances. Each team decorated a cardboard box and lined up on different sides of the tarp. Each person of the team participated in the relay of putting the box over their head (which they couldn't see out of) running to the other side of the tarp through the slime, and switching with a teammate who would run back. The paths each team took made collisions imminent and very funny. A couple of the girls were pushed down pretty hard when the guys would sprint through with reckless abandon. I don't think anyone was hurt seriously, so the games were a success.

I have class in a few minutes, so I'll have to cut it off there. Thanks for reading,

Brandon