Church Retreat - Part 1

On June 25 and 26, the Lord provided our church with the opportunity for a retreat at a ranch in the Flint Hills.  It was a very fun and spiritually enriching weekend together!  Not all of the families were able to make it, but it was well worth it for those of us who were there - though we did miss being all together.  Mr. Jasper Franklin, a relative of one of the families, was our special speaker.  His theme for us was, "Ye have known the Father", taken from 1 John 2:13,14.  He challenged us in our faithfulness in personal witnessing and living a victorious life.

There were a few organized games that everyone (from the youngest to the oldest) was able to participate in.  We were all divided up into four teams, with a couple assigned to lead each one.

NAZARITES

ISRAELITES

RECKABITES

LEVITES

~ We played a new variation of Jeopardy.

This was a lot of fun, as we learned some new facts about each family.

The Reckabites discussing a question

The Nazarites waiting for their turn

~We also learned a new variation of volleyball - Four-Square Volleyball (this is how you play with four teams;-)

~ A Treasure Hunt - the treasure was a bag of starbursts shared with everyone, but the best part was figuring out the clues. ;-)

What happens when there is only ONE car key, but all four teams need the same
clue at the same time?

The Nazarites putting their heads together to solve a puzzle

...so this is how you get your clue (which is written on a ping-pong ball) out
of a jug with out touching it!

~ The weather was very warm, so the Water Games were enthusiastically welcomed!

The parents and younger ones preferred to watch ;-)

We enjoyed some softball as well.

We only had ONE injury the whole weekend.  One of our first-basemen was
run into by a runner.... we won't mention which GIRL it was who ran into him!
Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as it looked.

We kept meals simple, which allowed more time for us to be all together, rather than the gals being in the kitchen most of the time.

Buddies ;-)

Mr. Beeson made us a wonderful breakfast of scrambled eggs, biscuits
& sausage gravy on Sunday morning.  Some of the others were up and
ready early enough to help.