Oops, Ouch, and Oooh!

Weekend Getaway = High School Ski Retreat to Winterplace in WV!

It was the quite the weekend! I found myself as a chaperon with 51 high schoolers and adult chaperons on the way to Winterplace in WV for weekend of fun snow related activities. And it was a weekend for the books. To start off, I was assigned to the cabin with a good chunk of the senior girls who had requested me as their cabin leader. They were a wonderful group of girls and I was amazed at the amount of junk food they all brought for the five of us (goldfish, popcorn, laffy taffy, cookie dough, etc.).

Saturday was the a day full of activity. We got to the slopes early in an attempt to avoid the long lines of other groups attempting to ski and snowboard. It went relatively fast and soon enough, I had my snowboard and was ready to go. I've been snowboarding a few other times and have been able to do a decent job. However, today was a different story. Between the crowds and my desire to not run over anyone, I was more cautious and I fell more than I usually do resulting in one pretty beat up leg and a large bruise right on the knee. Basically, I'm still sore today. But, it was near perfect conditions with it being a brisk enough day to keep the snow powdery and still warm enough to work up a sweat. And despite the crowds and the falls, I still had a great time as did the kids!

Saturday also presented a surprise in the lodge where I would hang out when I needed a break. They had karaoke! And I found out that the people on American Idol that are horrible, probably aren't faking it. They probably think they are good. I heard some people sing that had no business picking up a mic. But we cheered for them anyway because as Jeff said, they are someone's kid and because given the wrong song, it's easy to make a fool of yourself. Case in point: our youth conspired and suddenly I found myself on stage with Jeff, the youth director and Pastor Jon ready to sing a mystery song that they had picked out for us. The song = Oops, I Did It Again by Britney Spears (shudder, shudder). We were forced to make the best of a bad situation and since none of us really knew how to sing the verses (which is probably a good sign) we relied mainly on the chorus to get people into it. And we made the best of a bad situation and hammed it up, more for our cheering youth than anything. So, we survived karaoke a la Britney Spears and managed to have a good time. However, I think I'm going to have that stupid song stuck in my head for weeks now.

The weekend was also full of great "God Moments" as we call them. Moments when we see and feel God's presence. Those moments were numerous for me this weekend.

First, I've lived in cities the past three years. This means that due to light pollution, the stars get washed out. I still look up and smile when I see Orion. But being someplace like Pipestem State Park where lights are few and far between means great star gazing. And as I looked up I found my breath being taken away. There's nothing quite like it, being reminded of how small you are and at the same time, being reminded of the Creator of this all who loves you enough to come to earth and die for you. And along with that, being in the mountains with snow everywhere and a brilliant sunrise. Good stuff!

The second was during our Saturday night devotions. It is a candle ceremony where each of us sits with a candle in front of us. Each person is asked to come and light separate a candle off of the Christ candle in the center of the circle and then go and light someone's candle and say a prayer for them. The lights are turned off and the room starts off relatively dark but it slowly lights up as people's candles are lit and prayers are said for people. And it's something that I love watching. I know some of the stories behind the lit candles. One of the youth taught a couple of people how to snowboard. Others shared a cabin together and got this chance to connect for the first time. Others are old friends looking to affirm their friendship. Some are new friends who have found unexpected common ground. Some jump at the first chance to light someone's candle because they know they have to light that particular candle. Others wait to the end in order to make sure no one's left out. And somehow it all works. Every candle gets lit and a prayer is said for every person in the group. And we are all connected through that Christ candle in the center. What started out as a dark room suddenly was aglow with the candle light signifying that we are not alone, that we are all connected through Christ, and that through his light we are able to reflect that light to others in ways we may not expect.

So all in all, the perfect weekend getaway. Embarrassing pictures will be forthcoming (my camera battery died but worry not, the youth took plenty of pictures of Jeff, Jon, and me singing).