Great Beach Retreat

Wow - it's been almost a week since I've posted. Busy life, I guess :) Which is good in the sense that maybe I'm living a real life instead of an online one... Anyway.

This weekend I went to Corolla (in NC's Outer Banks) for a retreat with the Young Adults from my church. I've decided to process my thoughts about the weekend in a few categories, as follows, because I am just nerdy that way :):

Teaching - Matt Purdy is one of the pastors at West End and he leads the Young Adult group. He led 3 sessions this weekend on "The Enemy Within", talking about sin. The sessions were on knowing our sin, Jesus conquering our sin, and acting out the fact that Jesus has conquered it. I thought they were great sessions (not too long - Thanks, Matt! - since I don't sit well for extended periods of time) and very thought-provoking. Being at the beach on a church retreat tends to make you think deep thoughts. I walked on the beach by myself Sat. morning and found myself seeing lessons from God in everything. For instance - I was picking up shells to take back b/c some of my students asked for them. The best shells I found were at the top of the beach,yet I kept walking down in the water because that's where I wanted to be. Which is so like I am with God - he has good things for me in one place, but I insist on walking in my own place. Because he's so good, I can still find good things - but not the best that he has for me. This is a major theme of my life, one that I am constantly working on.

Friends/Fellowship - This is a really great group of people, around my age, and I really liked getting to know them better. They're fun and it was exciting to me to spend so much time hanging out with Christians where theology is discussed as readily and easily as our favorite sports teams (both got much attention this weekend). I often have a hard time feeling included - it's hard being a little bit of an outsider and trying to make new friends and I'm not very good at it. I tend to either go very quiet and retreat back or go overboard in being loud and crazy. There were a few times this weekend where I felt that keenly. But for the most part the group was very kind and gracious in including me and making me feel a part of things. (For the record, and this is another topic altogether, let me state that this is not entirely "the group"'s responsibility. I have a big part in this, which I struggle with and is a subject for another day) I stayed up until 2 a.m. both nights, which is very unlike me. But one night I stayed up b/c I was playing poker - and I won! Awesome. I did come home - and this seems a little sad - and friend request approximately a zillion people on Facebook from the weekend :)

WLS - related - I haven't posted about my meeting with Pam, the nutritionist, last Tuesday. But we're talking about changing a lot of things about the way I eat and I've been working pretty hard at it. I did pretty well this weekend. I took some things to eat/drink, but tried not to make a big deal out of it. I told some people about the surgery when it came up, but not everyone. I really don't mind talking about it, but I don't want people to feel like they have to listen to me go on about it, know what I mean? Sat. afternoon I did get sick and that was pretty miserable - especially since all of the bathrooms were occupied by people showering after an afternoon at the beach.

All in all, a great time. There is a lot more that I could say, but this post is already too long and I need to be in bed. Going back to school is going to be tough tomorrow! I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures, but I'm hoping that some of the other people who went will share theirs with me. Happy first week of October everyone!