Retreating from the Norm

     A break was exactly what I needed! The stress and frustrations of college are over and I definitely needed a break from the normal routine of life. Story Book Lodge Christian Camp was a great solution!!

    I was able to attend Winter Retreat Plus again! It's a camp that is mainly for college-aged young people who are focused on living for the Lord and interesting in hard core study of the Bible while also enjoying the benefit of seeing amazing friends. We did and in-depth study from the entire book of Zechariah and were all blessed with learning more about this very prophetic book of the Bible and how it related to Christ's time on earth and also many of the prophesies yet to come. 

A few things we learned: 

• "Zechariah" means: The Lord Remembers. Meaning that God doesn't forget His people, His promises and His love for the world. 
• God wants everyone to repent and come to Himself in faith. No matter what they've done before, how they've treated Him, or even if they've never heard the wonderful message of Salvation before (Ephesians 2:8-10.) 
• Interesting fact: the book of Zechariah has around 40 prophetic references of Christ's birth, life, death and second coming as a triumphal King of the world. 
• Those who don't obey God and choose to ignore His commandments are cursed and condemned. Zechariah 5:3-4. (Also note: Deuteronomy 27:26.) 
• If you believe in what God has done and given us (His perfect, sacrificial gift of His own life on the cross for our sins) then we are purified of our debt of sin and able to come before Him in the Glory of Heaven. Psalm 66:16-20 tells us that God won't turn us away if we confess and believe, then in 2 Corinthians 3:18 we learn that the Lord has promised Christians a place in His glory/heaven. 
• The King of the heavens is returning to claim His people! Zechariah 9:9-10
• Zechariah 14:9 "And the Lord shall be King over all the earth."  Revelation 21:4 is a good reminder that there truly is a great reward for placing your faith in God and believing on His precious gift to all man: "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." 

When I said that we learned a "few" things, I really meant it. But I hope this was at least a good overview. 

Other than time well spent in the Bible, we were also able to have just an old-fashioned great time with each other! We played tons of volleyball, some broomball on the ice---from which we all had sore muscles that we didn't even know existed---football, indoor soccer, card games, board games, crazy long chats into the early hours of the day, fun times baking yummy food, and playing around in the snow. 

 It was an incredible time to build my relationship with my Savior while also spending time with wonderful, "old" friends and making new ones!! 

Thanks to everyone who was there, everyone who spent time in the kitchen making awesome food, and everyone who lives up at camp to keep it running so that people like me have a place to retreat to when they want to get away from normal life and relax with friends while studying the Bible!!