This past weekend, I went with Sarah and her Senior High youth group to Modgnik, a weekend retreat for most of the PCA churches in Virginia. Modgnik (pronounced Modge-nick, why, I'm not sure), is a yearly retreat focused on God's kingdom and how it is (wonderfully) backwards compared to the way the world thinks (hence Modgnik, which is kingdom spelled backwards). It is an awesome retreat.
The retreat was held at the Young Life Alum Springs Rockbridge Camp about three hours from here. It is a wonderful facility with great cabins, meeting rooms, and dining area. It even has a nicely outfitted Infirmary (more on that in a minute). Even more awesome is the location and the outdoor activities...climbing walls, ropes courses, zip lines, lake, swimming pools, and on and on. It was an ideal place for a retreat (and summer camps).
It was also a place with plenty of opportunity for injuries. That is why I was asked to come as the camp doctor. At first I didn't think I would be very busy, but as the kids began enjoying their free time, I began to get to use one of my spiritual gifts! By the end of the 48 hour retreat, I had reduced a shoulder dislocation (on the soccer field), splinted a broken ankle, and immobilized a knee that had a torn ACL. I figured I would be tending to a few sprained ankles and coughs and colds. I more than made my keep in saved ER visits for the kids. That was a joy.
Sarah seemed to have a good weekend as well. It was great to attend a retreat with her. She is getting to be such a wonderful young lady. It was weird seeing her with 200 other high school kids and realizing that she was growing up so fast. It was also weird realizing that I wasn't the only male there thinking that she is a beautiful young lady. Perish that thought! But was I ever glad I was there. I made sure that I hugged her and held her hand enough in public to send out the very clear signal to other males in attendance that she was spoken for. Fortunately, she didn't seem to mind. In fact, I rather like to think that she was glad for my presence there.
Besides just being there together it was great to hear the speakers together. They were very on target with their Kingdom message and not only were they understandable at the high school level (whatever that is), they were also very challenging for all in attendance. The sessions dealt with "what is the kingdom", "why it is valuable", "how to live in the kingdom", and "how to share the good news of the kingdom."
Pray that it will be a weekend for us to remember for a long time...for our time together, for the closeness in our relationship, and for the challenges we heard.
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