Focus 09
Our church was putting on their annual youth retreat on a large piece of ranch property in DeLeon Springs. This year the kids were all camping with their tribe leaders on Friday night. Everyone was to get there in the afternoon on Friday and have lunch and hang out. There were waterslides, a pool, football games, snowcones, and just about anything else you could think of to keep the kids busy. Later in the evening there were some church services and prayer times and tribe times that surrounded dinner. The services included the youth band, which is where we came in. They needed an extra guitar player so they asked Peter if he would mind participating for the weekend. We got to go out and enjoy 
all the fun without any of the responsibilities. It was great. My mom took our kids and we got to sleep in the house on the property (it was gorgeous and huge) with our own room. 
We shared a bathroom with our worship pastor and his wife which was much nicer than the port-a-potties they had outside. Also we got to hang out in the AC while all the kids weren't aloud in the house at all. There was a catered BBQ dinner and then a
huge bonfire lit. Friday night after the service all the adults who weren't tribe leaders had adult time where we just talked and had dessert and coffee, it was so nice! This morning we got up and had a great big breakfast cooked by the hosting family followed by a morning service. It was a really neat experience to be there with all the kids
(7th-12th grades only) and to see how they reacted to the teaching and stories. I wandered away towards the end to get Peter some ice water but I was really moved to see all the kids finding a different location and praying on their knees or sharing prayer requests for themselves and others. I had a great time and was sad to leave but we had to get the kids to relieve my mom. I don't know if they will need Peter again next year but if it's going to be like this year was than I would love to come back. In the pictures you can see the property with some of the tents and the big water slide by the house. The big fire we had last night, you can see what looks like a log but it is actually a pretty descent sized tree. 
The services were held in a white tent down towards the bottom of the property. There were fans and lights and despite the heat it was pretty comfortable there. The hosting family did a great job and were extremely generous with their land, facilities, time, and money.
posted by We are the Taylors @ 10:59 PM
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