Brave Girls Retreat
Two weekends ago I had the honor of leading a weekend girls retreat for girls ages 12-17 alongside some awesome counselors and speakers.
This was my second year running a girls retreat out at Michigan Christian Youth Camp and, dare I say, this year was even better than the last! We had 32 girls attend {yay!}, all of which were excited to be there and participate. Our theme this year was "Brave" based on Francine Rivers' "Lineage of Grace" book which follows five women in the lineage of Christ. The five women we studied were Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary; all of which showed bravery despite their circumstances.
We had girls from different church backgrounds, or no church background at all, in attendance and it was so awesome to see them all learning together and becoming friends. This is definitely one of the joys of camp!
By the end of the weekend you could see the tired eyes from late nights up giggling and having fun & full days of learning and playing; but you could also see friendships that were formed as the parents came to pick the kids up and they said their sad goodbyes to new friends. I hope and pray that these girls hold on to what they learned this weekend and the relationships they built.
I'm excited to say that I will be leading another girls retreat next year! God is so good and I'm so blessed to be a part of such an awesome ministry at MCYC. Stay tuned later in the year for theme announcement and dates. For now I'm going to try to catch up on sleep and set the girls retreat planning aside for a little later!
This was my second year running a girls retreat out at Michigan Christian Youth Camp and, dare I say, this year was even better than the last! We had 32 girls attend {yay!}, all of which were excited to be there and participate. Our theme this year was "Brave" based on Francine Rivers' "Lineage of Grace" book which follows five women in the lineage of Christ. The five women we studied were Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary; all of which showed bravery despite their circumstances.
Our theme verse for the weekend was1 Corinthians 16:13-14 where it says,
“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.”
My friend, Rachel, even designed these awesome iPhone backgrounds for the girls to download!
The weekend was packed with great speakers, small group discussions, games, crafts, laughs, & archery tag!
Yep, archery tag.
- Friday night was kicked off by watching "Mulan," which may have turned into a bit of a singalong ;) I spoke on Tamar and used Mulan as an example for the place women had in society in the time and culture we would be talking about throughout the weekend.
- Saturday morning Anne Nichols taught on Rahab and got all the girls using their Bible's - it was awesome! She focused on redemption and how God requires courage, not strength.
- Saturday afternoon Laura Gutknecht taught on Ruth and how boldness, redemption, and bigger picture are important pieces of bravery.
- Saturday evening Beth Bowers spoke on Bathsheba and her story from silence to voice, and the courage it takes to find your own voice.
- Sunday morning Katy Busam talked about Bathsheba and the importance of obedience in bravery.
After our Saturday night session, we asked the girls the following question,
"What would you do if you
were brave?"
And some of the answers we got (via sticky note) were very
real, and some a little heart wrenching. We had answers from "stop lying
to my parents" to "advocate for animal rights" to "stop being a bully."
I admire these girls' honesty and willingness to answer such a
difficult question. I'm not even sure I have a complete answer to this one yet. We had girls from different church backgrounds, or no church background at all, in attendance and it was so awesome to see them all learning together and becoming friends. This is definitely one of the joys of camp!
By the end of the weekend you could see the tired eyes from late nights up giggling and having fun & full days of learning and playing; but you could also see friendships that were formed as the parents came to pick the kids up and they said their sad goodbyes to new friends. I hope and pray that these girls hold on to what they learned this weekend and the relationships they built.
I'm excited to say that I will be leading another girls retreat next year! God is so good and I'm so blessed to be a part of such an awesome ministry at MCYC. Stay tuned later in the year for theme announcement and dates. For now I'm going to try to catch up on sleep and set the girls retreat planning aside for a little later!
{But who am I kidding? I'm already brainstorming for next year!}
"I know I'm no superwoman, but impossible is possible with You."
- "Brave" by Moriah Peters
So what would you do if you were Brave?
- "Brave" by Moriah Peters
So what would you do if you were Brave?
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