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RETREAT!! When that word is shouted in battle it usually means that thing’s aren’t going so good, but for we who were “retreating” this weekend at the Wilds; it was a blast! Stu and I met while we were working at the Wilds of the Rockies in Colorado, but had never been adult “campers” there. Since a big part of our burden for the West has to do with Christian camping we were eager to get some ideas that we could use for our future ministry. Our church, Heritage Bible Church, also believes in the importance of camp in their people’s lives because they help us all get up there by covering half the cost. That was a huge blessing!! We have some friends from the Colorado camp who are now in NC and it was good to see them. We stayed in a cabin down the hill from the main lodge and all those steps that the eastern campers used to tell me about really hit home! I’m a pretty sore critter right now, but it was fun none the less!! We got to play Frisbee golf together, and Stuart was able to catch a ride on the Giant Swing!!! It hauls you up 65 ft in the air and the lets ya go!!! Whoooooooooosh! I had always “thought” I wanted to go on it, but when it came down to it and I saw the thing, I was very glad I could use our “sprout” as an excuse NOT to swing. Stu really had fun with it though, and I’m glad he did it and didn’t leave his lunch 65 feet up. We also went on the land trolley which was the TWR equivalent of the zip-line. It was quite a bit longer but it didn’t have as nice a landing. (ouch- guess God gave us extra padding back there for a good reason!) The sessions this weekend were very good and thought provoking. We were prompted to have a lot of our own good discussions through it. It’s great to see how God can use those things to really instigate personal growth in His children. Stuart and I had a great time and Dr. Mazak did an excellent job with his Unity through Humility theme. It gave us tools to think about using in our ministry ahead, but it also convicted us of things now in our lives and that was good! All in all, I think that retreats are an awesome spiritual refreshment, and that if your church or one you know of is offering to let you RETREAT!!! then by all means do! You will come back feeling like a whole new person….. even if your fanny is sore. View the entire set of photos from this adventure.