First Retreat—What We Did

This past weekend was the first retreat of The Program. It was in-town but the house we were at (mansion more like) was surrounded by trees so that you could only catch a glimpse of the nearest house. It almost felt like we were in another world.

The retreat began with supper at what is known as the Clifford House. It’s a red house, hence the name. Several girls who have gone through The Program before live there and provided us with a delicious meal. Afterward, we made our way back to Ann’s mansion where we had session one. Session one was followed by the first of the “Creative Introductions” and then we sat around and talked for a while filling in our “Rookie Books” (little booklets with names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mails, and blanks for everyone’s favorite things). Bedtime came around midnight.

Morning brought a delicious breakfast (homemade cinnamon rolls!), Session two and more intros. Lunch followed then Session three. We then proceeded on another treasure hunt across town which ended at The Hangar at DBC. Our final piece was buried in the sand volleyball court. We dug for about 15 minutes and couldn’t find it. Even the girl who buried it couldn’t figure out where it ended up. So we called it quits and sat in the shade eating popsicles while the girls who did The Program last year turned the hunt into a good illustration of how we need to dig and search to find the treasures of God’s Word.

We were all so wiped out from the heat that Jean declared a recess for the remainder of the afternoon. We chatted a little, finished filling in Rookie Books and a few stretched out on the floor to rest. I curled up on the couch and dozed for the forty-five minutes or so until supper.

Supper was at the Wilderness House—another house where previous program girls live that just happens to be on Wilderness Road—and then Session four was back at Ann’s. We finished up a bit after 9:00PM, helped clean up and everyone scattered to their respective homes.

So that is what we did during the weekend. What we learned/discussed will come later. Suffice it to say for now that it was good. Very good.