Divine Secrets of the CTK Sisterhood

The Girls' Retreat has officially ended, and I think it was a big success. We ended up with 21 girls, which is a great turn out. Only two didn't show. It was actually a lighter retreat than the one we did last year, but I think it was better that way since we had a younger group this year. I think we finally found the free-time/serious activity balance. That has been the hardest thing to do with every activity. They seemed to settle down and pay better attention when we needed them to because we let them have so much free time with their friends. The girls were very appreciative of all the attention we gave them and left little notes for us in their rooms, which actually made me a little misty. Those are the moments that make all the stress and long hours worthwhile. Aside from a few shock value moments, they are good girls with pretty good heads on their shoulders. I always feel that the proof of what we do isn't in the event but is in the decisions they make years after it. If even one thing we do with them helps them to make a better decision or feel better about themselves someday, then we have been successful. I know we can't save them all from hard times and future mistakes, even though I wish I could. I can't give away all of our secrets in the event that we publish this retreat someday. lol. Actually, Debbie and I would like to tweak the best retreats and lesson plans that have been done lately and work on getting them published. There aren't enough good Jr High resources, so we would like to be in a position to share what has worked for us with other youth ministers. Susan, our old youth minister, has been publishing a lot lately, but most of her stuff is high school appropriate.

As most of you know, everything that Debbie, our volunteers and I have been doing lately has been uncharted territory. After this weekend, I say it's working. We are definitely growing a stronger program that is attracting stronger volunteers (Our Girls' and Boys' Retreat Teams are truly awesome and dedicated) and making more of a difference. I say this because our retreat was so important to the girls that they didn't use other things they needed to do as an excuse not to attend. I did not know that Saturday was Jr. High Solo and Ensemble Festival for musicians/singers. Many of our girls were participating and still came to the retreat. One girl left at 7:00am, performed her solo and came back! Of course, some of the girls had sports games on Saturday, too. They brought their uniforms with them so they could stay with us as long as possible. What a testament to the good that we all have been doing. I am so proud that we have given the kids a postive place where they truly wish to be.