vs.
by Nancy Rodriguez
Last year, I had the opportunity to attend to the College Life Retreat and I was once again blessed to attend to this year. I remember feeling thrilled to attend to last year’s because it was my first time attending a retreat, ever. Last year, I had so much fun with the skits that we came up with in a short amount of time and later had to perform, with the sermons, with the delicious food and in the end we had a nice treat – snow! It was my first time seeing snow fall and it was so incredibly white! Due to the snow we had our annual games indoors. This year, I was hoping it would snow again simply to avoid the outdoor games because I was a little apprehensive as to what expect. I remember someone mentioning that they used “fish guts” two years ago, and I was not looking forward for that. But if it came to that, I would have been a good sport about it, I think.
I also enjoyed how everyone was a good sport about the Blue vs. Red team competition. Everyone is so high-spirited and is ready to represent their colors but in a manner that ultimately glorifies God (nothing prideful but all for laughs and fellowship). This year I was once again placed on the blue team and I was so thankful because in all honesty, my wardrobe consists of all blue and absolutely no red.
The skits had to incorporate the theme, an object and another theme provided by the captains (who, by the way, were so incredibly encouraging). The outcome of the skits was just so creative and amazing; they never fail to amuse me. I just love how everyone is just so encouraging throughout the process and incredibly patient. I know it can be overwhelming when trying to figure out what the skit will be within your group and who is going to be doing what, but in the end everyone is just so unbelievably considerate of one another.
I was delighted to hear that this year’s theme was “The Young Adult Dilemma” because being a young adult, there are a lot of gray areas in this stage of life (e.g. job, relationships, and the roles of men and women, etc.). Some things that were taught were relatively new ideas and made me reevaluate my view of the role of men and women. I must admit that the messages were difficult to swallow because growing up to a non-Christian home, I was taught quite the contrary. I was taught to fend for myself and to be independent. But in the time that I have been attending LBC, those ideas have been fading away because the teaching there is straight from the Bible, which makes it easier to understand and abide in those roles.
But one of the things I really enjoy about retreats is that you are surrounded by believers and if at any time you have questions about the sermon, or anything else, you can easily ask someone in your small group, staff, or even the pastor teaching. My experience overall was an amazing one because God never fails to reveal to me what I have to work on. I learned so much within just three days and I love how God continues to astonish me with His word and what He has in store for us all. If anything, these sermons made me want to even further my knowledge about the role of women and the want to pursue the principles of the Titus 2 women.
It is always a joy to be surrounded with believers who absolutely love God and are ready to worship Him for an entire weekend, but it doesn’t stop there, even when we return to school, the conversations did not stop. It was just amazing to hear what everyone else gained from the retreat and how they were going to apply it to their lives. Overall living with believers has been a remarkable blessing because, being a relatively new believer, the girls have continually challenged me to be a good witness to others. Retreat for me has been a time where God reveals to me the most and a time to fellowship and get to know other collegians that I may not know.