Retreats & Friends: all I need

Helllllooo.

Sorry I am so late at getting around to posting this, but this past weekend I went on my LAST ever St. Ann church retreat (besdies the one I'm working next month). It was quite sad, but my days in the youth program at my church have been the best ever. I've made some of my best friends there, met really interesting people and of course, learned some of the coolest things about my faith.

This retreat was the L ST & FOUND retreat. The bible verse that this trip focused on was the story of The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). I had heard that story so many times before, but we never really went into depth with it as much as we did this weekend. Not only did I learn things from the son's persepective, but from the brothers and the fathers as well. It was quite interesting to dig deeper into it.

Here is a quick briefing of what really struck me:

Prodigal Son: He wanted happiness and thought he would find it if he took his share of his fathers inheritence and set out for a better life. Pretty soon all his money was gone and he was forced to get a job feeding pigs which was a job that no one wanted to have. Today, we find things and want things that will bring us happiness only to get bored with them soon after. When we loose everything, we soon we realize everything that we had. At the end of the verse, the son comes back to the father and the father greats him with open arms. He turned away from his father, but came back. In our own lives, we turn away God because we think we know better. (WE DONT)

Older Brother: I've never loooked at the story from his perspective or really understood why his role in the story was so important, but I was amazed at how wrong I was. The older brother was so jealous of his younger brother because he left, came back and was celebrated. He didn't seem to understand why his dad was so happy. I am quite guilty of being just like the older brother. Being jealous of MY own brother or friends because of what they have. Sadly, in the world we live in, we take enjoyment in watching others fail. We have to ask ourselves, do we love the Lord by who He is?

The Father: After everything the prodigal son did wrong, the father welcomed him home with open arms and a party. This is something I am also quite bad at, forgiving others. I tend to hold a grudge with things that honestly do not matter. I learned that even though I may sometimes turn my back on God, he never turns his back on me because He is my father and will always be there to catch me when I fall.

Over all this weekend was amazing and I had a blast learning the things I did. While the trip was focused on me getting closer to God, I also spent it with an amazing group of people.  :-) LOVE YA'LL