November?

Okay, so where did November go? Hahaha….I guess I missed it. I haven’t been motivated to blog of late, but I thought I would let yall know that I’m not dead. This past weekend was fantastic! Or should I say…Fan…..Tastic! (Imagine Will Ferrell saying it) Retta Baptist Church had ~60 youthfuls at Sky Ranch where the annual Fall Retreat takes place. This place has special meaning for me because it is the place where Shan and I’s relationship officially started back in 2001 or 2002. I hadn’t been to the retreat in about 3 years, but this was my return.

The message was about how Witness and Testimony go hand in hand. Our Christian walks all started at some point when we made that step and died to ourselves and gave everything to God. Our Witness continues on a daily basis and since we keep adding to our Testimony, then we see that our Testimony grows as well. A major problem that Christians face is that of Conformity and Apathy caused by a process of “desensitizing.” What environment do we surround ourselves by? When we go to work, do we sit around the water cooler boasting of the sinful lives we lead? Or is there a positive, constantly reinforcing aroma? What circle of friends do you keep? Do they bring you closer to the Lord or do they change who know you should be? Holiness was another key point of the message. Why should Christians concern themselves with holiness? Are we better than others because we consider ourselves to be holy? Let me answer myself. Christians have one HUGE way to show the presence of God. It is the difference in the lives we lead. We want to be holy because God was holy. If we can do our best, knowing we are sinners and we’ll still fall, but if we can do our best to match up our life styles with the plan God has then people will see Christians instead of hypocrites. It’s real easy to do, but so hard to remember. God runs our lives, NOT us. If we can keep that in mind then we will succeed. Now are we better than others? Nope, we just know about the grace God has given so we concern ourselves with showing others God and not the type person they say on TV everyday.

The great part of the weekend, was getting to know all the youth of Retta. Shan and I had been gone for a couple years and when we returned, we saw quite a few different faces. I tell you what…there are some outstanding youth in the church. Now, it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t talk about this. It’s kind of a big deal. Every year there is a big Football Tournament held at this event and this was my return after 3 years of absence. My team consisted of Retta Old School players and it was a great honor to step on the battlefield with these men. I needed something to play for because to be honest, I had lost my competitive spirit. We played hard and much to my surprise, we are the 2006 Fall Retreat Football Champions. Now, even though I feel today, like I was hit by a Diesel Truck…It is a wonderful reminder that I get to be a champion for a whole year. None of that would really mean anything to me, if it wasn’t for the fact that I won standing next to old school players like Ed Lowe, Brian Riley, Justin James, Shane Clements, and not forget the MVP Caleb O’Flaherty. It meant a lot.

What a great weekend and what a great memory. Now that I’m part of the men of the church, I get to spend 30 minutes learning from some seasoned men. Curtis Pearce and Larry Brown educated me Saturday night on the intricacies of having a Septic System. I’ll pause for the laughter. It was from that point on…I knew I had a plethora of knowledge waiting to be plucked. 2007 is going to be a great year!!!