Pastor Ron's Deep Thoughts and Shallow Entries: Lofty Studies Weekend Away

Pastor Ron's Note:

Calvin is privileged to have many young adults in our church at this point in time. They get together every other Sunday for a time of fellowship and faith building. They also do social stuff in-between these times.

One such time happened this past weekend. Several members of our Young Adult's Group [aka "Lofty Studies"] went on a retreat. They stayed at a cottage of one of our members. From the sounds of their experience, they had some interesting times of fun and faith building.

Melanie has taken the time to write about the weekend, and Jeannine took some pics and put some comments with each one. [I added some of my own comments too. I just couldn't resist : ) They are in green].

Enjoy...........

Melanie's Reflections:

We left the church on Friday around 5:30 pm. Fifteen of us all got into four vehicles and hit the road. The plan was to stay together in a convoy. That was the plan. But you know how plans go.

We followed each other for a good amount of time.... until Melanie’s car decided it could not go the speed that everyone else was doing. Then we came to our exit off the highway, but Kevin, as our leader, took the exit too quickly and lost both Jackie and Melanie. Jackie turned around and went back on the highway, Melanie, on the other hand, decided to continue on to highway 43 and take that to Smith Falls. We texted and decided to met up at the Smith Fall’s Tim Horton’s. Thankfully we all made it :)

After we re-grouped, used the bathroom, and got more coffee, we continued on our way. This time we did a lot better as a convoy. We travelled down Highway 15 to the cottage. Now I was warned about these roads, but I did NOT imagine they could have been the way they were heading to the cottage.

These roads were hilly! It was dark, and you couldn’t see the bottom of them! I’ve been to Kentucky and driven their roads, and these were a pretty close second. They weren’t as high, but they were dangerous just because of all the water on each side of them. We travelled the roads slowly, but sadly Jackie had a small problem, and ended going off the road. We were all very blessed this weekend by having angels of safety around us. They were in a very interesting predicament, but the guys of the group came to the rescue and got her out, and then drove them back to the cottage safely.

After we reached the cottage and made a mad rush to claim bedrooms (which were not in short supply) we fired up the BBQ and had some tasty dinner. We washed the dishes, and some participated in a few intense games of ping pong, and then we decided to have a "get to know you better" game.

The name of the game was Scruples and it was a good way to get to know what people might do in different situations in life. Laughter had a large role in this weekend too, and this game brought out a lot of that. When that game ended we broke out the game "Catch Phrase" and, in typical group fashion, it became boys against girls. Now I can’t say who won, or we would have a large fight [but *the girls still won*]. By the time all the games ended, a few of us were getting tired. Some lasted till 3 am, but most of us fell asleep before that.

Saturday morning was the day to sleep in, rest and enjoy each other’s company. After the whole group was awake we had breakfast and joined together for devotions. We read James 2 and discussed how we saw the chapter, and what we understood James was calling us, as Christians, to do.

After devotions we broke out the games again. There was no shortage of them for this weekend! There is an unwritten rule with the Lofty Studies retreat that the weekend is TV free, so we made sure that we had things to entertain us all. Ping pong also played a large role in the weekend. I am unsure of the final “King” but there was an intense competition. Lunch came around, and then more games. Saturday was a rainy day, but some brave people still went outside. They came back inside very soggy, but we had an abundance of tea for them (Thanks Jackie!)

Christina also did a lot of hard work on the litany that we were asked to prepare for lent (Props to Christina too and all the work she did!!!)

We then paused the games and ping pong for a chili dinner [Ron's comment: and no, we didn't supply them with chili from our youth fundraiser. They made their own. : ) ]. After that we were ready to relax.

Some of us knitted, and some of us wound yarn :) Cottaging magazines were also read as well as other literature. Then it was time for a Lofty Studies group favorite. Telephone pictionary. This is a game that is played pretty much every time we are together as a group. Lots of laughter, interesting artistic skills and funny stories come from this game. By 2 am we were all ready for bed, and knew it would be smart to sleep because Sunday morning was needed for tidying and heading home.

Sunday morning came, and to our surprise there was snow. Now snow by itself is difficult, but snow on top of all the ice from the day before was a problem. Remember I said the roads were really hilly? And that we already had trouble on DRY roads in the dark. Lets say, we had a very big adventure ahead of us.

Our need for protection was there again. Thanks for praying at church for us! It helped! Kevin and his van had to leave early, and right away at the first hill, we got a call saying they were off the road. The guys went out, and dug out the van and got Kevin back on the road. They were also very kind and scraped all the ice off of Jackie and Melanie’s cars (Thanks Simon and Phil!)

While we were outside, we were told by a neighbour that it could be 2 hours till the roads were plowed. We chose to wait those 2 hours, just to be safe. As we were waiting we got another call from Kevin’s van. There was a very large puddle *more of a lake* in the middle of the road. And no way around it. Jackie and Melanie both have rather small cars and we were not sure really how deep it was. They called to warn us about it. After some lunch it was time to attempt an exit. The hill was large and icy, but the men of our group got the cars up the hill.

All the passengers had to exit and run up the hill. Melanie’s car is special, and has troubles with hills and the check engine light went on right away. The car is fine, kinda. Our cars all made it up the hill. Ian’s car was the strongest.. we didn’t worry about it.

We continued on the road, and then encountered the “lake”. We got out of the cars again to evaluate the situation. The puddle was huge, but was passable. The passengers walked around it, by visiting a cottage, and running around on their lawn to the other side of the lake, while our drivers each drove through. That was the last obstacle that we were aware of, and we all buckled in for the rest of the ride. Thankfully there were no more surprises. We continued on to Smith Falls, visited the bathrooms at the Tim Horton's, and headed back to the church. Thankfully we made it all safely.

This weekend was a blessing for all of us. We were able to grow closer as a group and discover more about each of our member's. We were blessed by Al and Wilma's generosity - thanks for letting us use your cottage. We were also protected by God in our travels. All in all this was a weekend that refreshed us all: - even if everyone was ready for a shower and nap when they got home :)

Jackie made sure the group was well-stocked with tea for the weekend.

Dinner!
Yummy looking, but is that how you cook hamburgers...in the oven? !!!

The BBQ was all ready to go for us when we got there.

Simon is helping out with the cooking.
So, what was the oven for?

Any Dutch residence wouldn’t be complete

without a spoon collection

The boys settled into some conversation while the girls got the kitchen organized
Seems some things don't change with time. : )

Our wonderful meal. It is a good thing the table was so big because there were 15 of us squished around it!

Playing a game called "scruples" where we ask moral questions to each other and see who will guess them.

It was an interesting ice-breaker...
I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that game. : )

Leanne, Erin and Kevin seem to be enjoying the game.
But Jackie doesn't. Knitting again I see Jackie.

Before breakfast,

some of us spent time in devotion and reading.
Cool!

Phil knows how to multi-task....

Here he is reading a book while trying to snap a photo of Christina drinking out of a juice container.

Christina is also multi-tasking...

drinking out of a juice

container while trying to hide from Phil's

camera

Oh Boy. Derek looks tired and grumpy.

The cups must have been too small...
Good thing the cottage has lots of bathrooms. That's ALOT of liquid. : )

After breakfast, we read from James 2 and discussed together what it means to be Christians of faith and deeds. Thank you, Simon, for leading our discussion!

Derek shared his musical talents and led us

in a song or two.

The weather over the weekend caused most of us to spend the day indoors. It is a good think we brought lots of games. Here we have a game of “Settlers”.
I just don't get that game. Glad others do though.....

Mel is teaching Hilary how to play “Fluxx”

Leanne and Jackie prepare lunch while the

games continue.

Grilled cheese! Mmmm...

"Pandemic” – the only game I know of so far

where it’s possible for everyone to lose.

“Rummi-cub”
Now that's a game more my style.

Almost all of the tiles have been picked up and I have still not used any! Obviously, I'm not winning....
You only needed 30 to come out Jeannine...
You need to keep counting......

Jackie's lovely klompen slippers, which are authentic.

They were actually bought in Holland!

Christina doing a bit of typing...figuring out some things for a future service at Calvin

Tea time!

Derek and his guitar skills gave us some lovely background music while we continued on with our games.

Another of the many games we played.

This one was called “Ticket to Ride.”
I like the picturesque trains. The game...I don't get it. : )

Jackie brought her knitting because she's making a cute baby blanket for Ian. It wasn’t really for Ian, but I’m sure he wanted it. Mel and Hilary untangle some of the more stubborn wool for her.

Ian's baby blanket is really starting to take shape!

Ian must have really wanted a blanket for

himself because here we have Jackie giving

Ian a few knitting tips.
This weekend is getting very strange.... : )

Some of us used the time to get a little reading in.

Kevin, once he came back from his ninja adventures out in the freezing rain, helped Christina with organizing the service.

Simon and Phil having a ping-pong

tournament downstairs.

Derek getting ready to "pong" it back at Simon...

But, alas....it didn't work out as planned.

Jackie is really getting into the game!

Go Jackie!
Hey, you aren't allowed to touch the table when you play ping pong Jackie. That's cheating...!!!

Spying on the neighbours, Simon?

You'd be more successful during the day, I think...
The neighbours are so far away that telescope wouldn't be of any help.

One game that seems to have become a group favourite is “Telephone Pictionary.” Basically, it works like this – Everyone gets a stack of papers equal to the amount of players. On the first piece, everyone writes a sentence to do with a chosen topic. Then everyone passes their stacks to the person beside them and those people draw a picture based on the sentence. The papers move again and the next person interprets the picture and writes a sentence about it. The game ends when you receive your own stack again with an interesting story of pictures and sentences. The best part of the game is sharing the results J

Here are some of them . . . ....

“Phil with his bulging muscles watching his minions play ping-pong"...
I get that reference only because I saw the movie Despicable Me! Otherwise I would have no idea what minions would have meant.

Hmmmm....a blindfolded man picking on someone sunbathing on a lawn chair?

Frosty the snowman losing out to a pirate looking for treasure?

A squid, bird creature? (at the cottage)...

Dan's biggest fear apparently...
I hear that rumour is true...isn't that right Al?

Oh this one is easy....
That's Mel in the morning before she's had her coffee..... (tee, hee).

Kevin's greatest fear is for Phil to become a Jedi sith. This was actually mistaken as a picture of Kevin with a bowstaff and tingly fingers.
I'd buy that explanation. : )

Is someone a mad scientist in the group?

You know those Ottawa Beaver Tails you can get while on the canal? This is how you catch the beavers to get the tails. : )

Sorry, but I just don't get these two....

Group shot!

Simon and Phil had to share a couch.

We somehow miscalculated the number of beds at the cottage.
That is a hilarious shot, but looks painful too.

We woke up to a nice thick layer of ice on the cars...

Thanks, Simon, for cleaning the car off!
Nice to see the men in the group actually do SOMETHING! : )

Phil took care of Jackie's...

This is at the base of an icy hill that Kevin had previous got stuck on earlier that morning. Phil has the car in place, ready to speed up the hill.

...gaining speed!...

Getting out of the way while Derek drives Mel's car up the hill.
A freezer in the middle of winter outside....question #1....is it plugged in? Question #2....what's stored inside?

Go, little car, GO!!

What a nice little trail of smoke you have...

aaaaaand he's stuck....

Dan and Simon spread some more sand

before the second attempt.
Oh I get it...that freezer had SAND inside of it....YES!

With a little help from Dan (though I'm not sure where Phil was since he's apparently the one with the bulging muscles) the little car got up the hill.

Having been warned by Kevin, we approached our second obstacle – what appears to be a miniature lake in the middle of our road...

We approached the “lake” to take a better look.
This picture could be in a movie trailer, don't you think?

Dan tests its depth and Jackie looks concerned...
Dan didn't suddenly disappear did he? I'm getting worried here? Jackie can't seem to look. I think the other 3 guys are just glad they didn't pull the short straw. : )

Some of the girls run around to the other side to watch.
....and to give advice from afar I bet as well...... : ) (Hey, I can say that...I'm married.....)

Mel's Car: "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...."
This picture is just too funny. I'm just amazed it didn't stall in the middle of that lake.