I’ve uploaded some photos from the recent FSU Navigators beach retreat. You can find them on my website, on Facebook or on Flickr.
Tag Archive for 'retreat'
Each spring since I’ve been at Florida State the Navigators have gone on a prayer retreat to spend time seeking God. Each one of these has been different. I don’t mean that the activity has been different. In fact, of all the things we do year after year, this is the one event that follows the same structure each and every time we go. We arrive on Friday night and start praying. We spend all day Saturday praying. Then we spend Sunday morning in prayer. When I say each one is different what I mean is that God says and does something unique each time. This time was no exception.
I went to St. Louis the first weekend of November for the Navigators’ National Staff Conference. I spent the second weekend of November in Gainesville at the Florida Navigators’ men’s retreat. It sort of seems like we just had one of these. The last two of these have been during the spring semester. This time it’s in the fall since we’re moving our big conference back to the spring.
Anyway, this was your typical men’s retreat, complete with lots of food, man challenges, and good speakers. We heard from Andy Farina on Friday night and from Dave Wirgau on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon was a panel discussion where students were able to ask the “senior staff” their questions. The goal of a weekend like this is to remind our students (or in some cases, introduce the notion for the first time) what it means to be a man of God.
Beyond the fact that the trip was spiritually encouraging the games were also a lot of fun. I stayed up all Friday night playing Risk. (Me and my partner were down to one man in Argentina but came back to take over the world.) The man challenges that I mentioned included a banana eating contest (which I videoed) and a minivan push. When it was all said and done UF won the man challenge and brought the trophy home to Gainesville. Will get them next year.
I’ve got some good photos and two videos from the event for you. They’ve been on Facebook for a while, but if you’re not a member there they’re now also up on my website (photos here, videos of banana eating contest and beatboxing here).
Leading Off - I really do still like to blog, despite the fact that it’s been almost a month since my last post. But there’s a major difference in my life since I started blogging, namely that my life has gotten much more boring. When you’re a college student something wild and unpredictable could happen at any moment. When you’re a working stiff something wild and unpredictable could happen if you have the energy to make it happen when you get home from work, which is a rarity for me. Who really wants to listen to me talk about my day at work? It’s more boring than what I usually blog about. I already only have five readers. Why make the content worse? I say all of this in order to shape my excuse properly and logically. I would blog more if I did more. I would do more if I had more energy. I suppose I would have more energy if I exercised more. I would exercise more if I had more time. I would have more time if I did less. So, put another way, I would blog more if I did less. How ’bout that.
Leading Off - I’m feeling much better. Things still aren’t totally resolved but they’re headed towards a state of resolution. I can handle that. There’s a sense of moving in the right direction to my life right now and, I have to say, I like it.
Weekend Retreat - So I did end up going to my grandmother’s house for the weekend. Easily one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time. I needed a break from Tallahassee, from college students, from roommates. I did nothing all weekend. That’s not entirely true; I went to church. And I drove a lot. But while in my grandma’s house I did nothing. And it was fabulous! I just sat back in one of her comfortable chairs and listened to my aunt and grandma talk about baby stuff. My aunt is about to become a grandmother, and my grandma a great-grandma, for the first time. I was fed two amazing meals: steak on Saturday and lasagna on Sunday. Even the church service on Sunday was top notch. The sermon was on envy, a topic I’m keenly interested in. All in all I’m thinking I should be headed down to Lakeland more often!
Quote of the Day #1: “You might think, more popes, more holiness. Not so, as it turns out.” — Nicole Kelley, professor of Christianity in Antiquity, commenting on the various points in history when there have been more than one pope
Quote of the Day #2: “If you’re using words what kind of words do you want to use?” — Tatia Jordan, instructor of my Article and Essay Workshop, giving those people who might be using words in their paper a useful thought to ponder
