Fall Retreat 2022

  I’m a school teacher.  Every year I begin by informing students that a goal of our classroom will be to help them prepare to one day answer the question, “Why should I choose you”.  I tell them that they are all sitting in class right now, and so are thousands of other students, and those are the people who they will grow up to compete with - to be picked for jobs, universities, teams, scholarships and a variety of other scenarios.  I let them know that we live in a competitive world.  Whether you like it or not, you will have to compete, and so in order to have a competitive advantage it is important to prepare yourself to answer the question of why somebody should choose you. As the year goes on, I try on a daily basis to provide them with opportunities in the classroom to practice developing habits, skills and overall character that they will be able to one day point to when it comes time to answer that big question.  When they go for a job interview, ...

  We love stories of personal change.  Remember Aaron from the first session?  His story is an example of how we enjoy hearing stories of people overcoming obstacles in order to meet goals and accomplish dreams.  But like we also realized, we often get inspired by stories of change that encourage us to go out and take action in the direction of our own goals and dreams.  We learned that we love the idea of taking charge of our own destinies.   But in the last session, we came to realize that if we are going to invest in personal change, we are wise to do so in the direction that invests in eternity, not our selfishness and pride.  We have learned why Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, “You cannot serve both God and money”.  Investing in worldly things leaves you feeling empty, while at the same time prevents you from being filled.  Because Christ is eternal, only He can leave us filled and provide an overflow so that even when we are filled, th...

  Let me ask you a question.  How do you know whether or not something is a wise investment?  It could be a good investment of your time, your money, your talents…anything.  But how do you really know whether or not the investment is a sure thing?  What would you have to know?  Are there any investments that are really like this?   Is a parent investing time to play with their child a wise investment? Is investing money in the stock market a wise investment? Is practice a wise investment for a musician or an athlete? Is taking extra courses to pursue a pay raise at work a wise investment? Is spending that extra time studying for an exam a wise investment? Is spending extra money to get the very best coaching a wise investment? Is spending at least 30 minutes every day reading a wise investment? Is choosing to invest your time to provide free tutoring for elementary aged students a wise investment? Is taking some “me time” a wise investment? Some i...

  Aaron is a high school athlete, and a really good one.  While he plays a variety of sports, and excels in all of them, football is his passion.  It’s all he ever thinks about, and  he is receiving scholarship offers from a variety of U.S. colleges.  What makes Aaron such a unique athlete is his ability to win.  You see, Aaron is an excellent athlete, but it is not natural athletic ability that makes him so great - rather, it is his uncanny ability to always find a way to win.  When the game is on the line, the coach always puts the ball in Aaron’s hands because Aaron knows how to get the job done.  His sheer grit and determination is what makes him excellent. But it hadn’t always been this way.  It all started when he was in grade 8, and playing house league football in his small town.  Aaron’s team had managed to put together a solid season, and found themselves in the championship game on a crisp Sunday afternoon in October.  Be...