When we heard there was a retreat for families with 5th graders and under, we were like this is either going to be fantastic or a disaster. How are you going to retreat away together with 25 families and not have it be chaotic?
Well, the short answer: It was fantastic.
The whole weekend was very loosely structured. The time started with Family Game Night on Friday.
Then after a pancake breakfast the next morning, we kicked off our morning with breakout sessions with childcare. That was key! First, Jason taught out of Deuteronomy for the couples break-out session. Awesome stuff. Then the ladies then had the next session, and then the men. Bridget is giving a talk on jump-starting our days so that we can manage the home with the focus of having more time for teachable moments with our kids. Her talk was really inspiring!
Patrick came away from his session in awe of his time with the men. He was fired up after having met men who were so passionate about raising their children and the time investment they put into their kids. I was excited to hear that he could learn from them.
Meals were great. Buffet style and tables for eight. The best part was we always met a new family, and oh yeah...I didn't have to clean up after every meal. Now, that's a re-TREAT!
After lunch was Family Field Day activities. We took over their huge gymnasium and families everywhere were playing balls, air hockey, ping pong and even organized parachute games. During this time, the parents each had 30 minute mini-dates just to walk around together and reconnect. We used our time wisely! Then it was free time until dinner for the families. Micah climbed rocks like he was born for it.
After dinner, it was Saturday Family Movie Night! The parents chatted while the kids watched and ate popcorn. After the kids were down, the staff would walk up and down the halls of our rooms and listen for crying children. With walkie-talkies, they would let us know. Oddly, the only parents that were called with crying children were guess who? Ours! Turns out Caelan was hacking up a lung and woke up Tristan who then woke up Micah. The situation was diffused in minutes and all was back to bed. We retired too, but many couples stayed up and chatted until midnight.
And the kids like a good alarm clock, would wake up in their make-shift beds ready to have pancake breakfast. The last session on Sunday was a Family Worship Service filled with songs and skits.
It was an answered prayer for us to connect with other young families. We were so impressed that a church would emphasize the importance of family by setting up a way for parents to be encouraged and poured into. We walked away excited to raise our kids!
No comments:
Post a Comment