| Fun
in the Son Retreat held
The month of June brings with it an invitation for our High school youth to attend a retreat in Keuterville, called “Fun in the Son”. Along with this invitation comes the assumption that the weather will be nice and bring about an opportunity for tons of sunny fun. Well, this year was a little different, as water tubs were filled, squirt guns prepared, and water balloons piled high, the longing for warmth became a new part of the retreat. As youth arrived they were welcomed with smiles, hugs, hellos and of course a lot of water. You can ask Clark Bruno about the importance of welcoming people the right way, with the baptism of water. Don’t worry though as a youth leader I have an upper hand on the skills of water fights. Clark was called forth to helped, but he ended up with a huge bucket of water over his head. Score! My weekend was started. Tents were made ready as the rain sprinkled and the challenge to sleep outside was made. After setting up the tents the youth prepared their talent shows performances. The afternoon finished with some ice-breakers led by the peer ministers and Praise and Worship led by David Hamm. We sang with uplifted hearts to our God who supplies with great abundance, even rain! Around 6:00 p.m. every one was hungry, so we loaded up in cars to go have dinner at Subway. Have you ever seen the face of a Subway worker when 30 plus people come bounding into the restaurant with the look of hunger in their eyes? It’s quite amazing to see! Some of the kids wanted Taco Johns so Fr. Paul generously took a car load to get tacos and burritos. After dinner we went to the Drive Inn to watch an alien thriller, “The edge of Tomorrow”, again in the rain and again outside! We got back to Keuterville around 11:30. Kevin Tillinghast was in charge of starting a fire for our s’mores making. Have you ever roasted marshmallows in the rain? He was determined and very successful! There is one advantage to the rain, the marshmallows don’t stick to your fingers as bad. The talent show started around midnight. We had beautiful performances by many of our youth and a few youth from Lewiston as well. We even had a visit from Olaf as “Let is Go” was sung by 7 year old Addison Skinner. Fr. Paul awarded the prizes for the best talent and first place was divided four ways. The night closed with a bed time story read to the youth. They were all sitting on the floor like they did when they were young and listened intently as the plot of Rumpelstilskin was revealed. A wonderful day with tons of fun even if it wasn’t in the sun! The morning brought with it some very tired kids and lots of pancakes and bacon and sausage. The youth decided to rise and shine around 6:00 a.m. Are you serious? Who wants to get up and run around so happy and full of energy after getting 2 or 3 hours of sleep? I am totally discovering my age. Anyway, the morning was spent eating, cleaning, tearing down tents and saying goodbyes with lots of hugs. I find it so interesting that by providing an opportunity for our young people to come together in the name of God, that they begin to love like God. They see each other as special and unique and that is what having “Fun in the SON” is all about! In Abundant Gratitude, Debbie Chicane 
Having fun at the Fun in the Son Retreat are: Front Row: (L-R) Darlene Gehring, Beth Dinning, Kyle Tillinghast. Second Row (L-R) John Mager, Clark Bruno, Nicole Poxleitner, Kevin Tillinghast. Third Row (L-R) Everett Skinner, Marisa Lustig, Mitchel Nuxoll, Addison Skinner, Rosie Trautman. Fourth Row (L-R) Noah Reiger, Della Sprute, Drew Dinning, Faith Uhlenkott. Not Pictured: Fr. Paul, David Hamm, Calista Karel, Debbie Chicane, Daniel Mager. Photo by Debbie Chicane. |
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