High School Retreat: Indwelling

 The theme for this year is Indwelling and we just spent a whole weekend soaking in God's word and worshiping him! We found out more about the Holy Spirit and his role in our lives as a part of God's forever family. Our sessions began with worship and singing, them our speaker shared a short message before we separated into our small groups for a time of discussion. My co-leader was sick this weekend so I had the leadership role for my girls. Thank you all for praying for me as I really needed those prayers last weekend! Thankfully, no hard questions were asked and no interesting topics were brought up!

 Our retreat happened in Switzerland, in the Alps, in the snow....literally for some of us! I chose to catch the early bus on Friday to join in with the skiing and sledding crowd. Skiing was interesting as there was a lot of fog and snow flying in our faces! I could not see the course to ski and was very thankful to still be alive by the end of the day:)

 Our speaker had excellent messages from his heart! He works with youth and obviously has a passion for middle school and high school students. We spent time walking through the bible looking at the history of the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit has worked in the lives of believers in the Old and New Testaments. He asked hard questions that really got the students thinking! Where do you stand with God? Are you aware of the Spirit at work in your life? How do you know? Who are you trusting? He also shared valuable truths of the Spirit's role in convicting us of our sin, bringing us from death to life through salvation, how we can actively walk as the Spirit leads, and allowing the Spirit access to our heart and lives. I was able to share with my small group girls stories from my own life. I also encouraged "my" girls as I told them all of the people who are loving them and praying for them! They were touched by all of your prayers! Thank you for praying! You are making a HUGE difference!

 The worship leader and speaker also spent time with the students getting to know them as individuals! The speaker was even able to follow us back to BFA for a week and hung around campus. He was available to answer questions, share insights, and just be-friend students. In the picture above and below, you will see a few freshmen guys who were my math 8 students last year! The student playing the guitar with our worship leader was deaf but was miraculously healed. He shared his testimony last year during a chapel and it was moving and powerful! God is working in the lives of our students!

Of course, this would not be complete with a demonstration of how to fully enjoy the snow! After our morning session on Saturday, we had some free time. I went hiking with a group to see a frozen waterfall. After a student literally rolled down the side of a hill, I decided to do it too! It was a blast but I could not stand up for about a minute! I had to wait for my head to stop spinning! I showed the video to my math 6 students last Monday. One student asked, "Miss Ramse, was that from your high school days?" Not exactly....