Midway Through the Retreat

By this time tomorrow, we'll have been on the road a bit of time.  We're hoping to leave by 5, since we both have to be at work on Monday.  I do find myself wishing that we could have gotten here early and that we could stay until after the closing service tomorrow.  Maybe next year.

The first day was wonderful.  A lot of folks expressed concern that I didn't have a chance to do much, that I was always taking pictures.  But I love walking around and taking pictures.  I love seeing what others are doing.

I don't point this out, but I've been going to this retreat for a very long time.  I've had a chance to experiment with many of the techniques we're offering.  And then there's the fact that I'd be left with the thing I created.

But the larger truth is that I love taking the pictures--I would prefer to do that.  If I wanted to sit in on a workshop or a drop in station, I would.

We also have a huge crowd this year.  I don't want to take up a seat that a new person might have wanted.

We had a great first day:  Bible study, worship planning, workshops, drop-in stations, worship service, lots of great chances to talk.  We have had amazing food, including some apple butter that had been cooking in a crock pot all day--on warm biscuits!

My mom and dad are here this year, which is a great treat.  Lots of us bring family members, which I think is a wonderful tribute to how meaningful the retreat can be.

Here's an intriguing nugget of information I got:  Luther Seminary is fully funding all students, including the online students.  Could I do seminary and stay employed?  I know that I could--I really have other questions, which I'll ponder at a later point.  They are the larger questions about what I want to do with the second part of my life.

I've always said that one of the biggest barriers to seminary is the debt I would incur.  If there's no debt, how does that change how I look at seminary?  I will do more thinking about that in the days to come.

I've had so many good conversations here.  I miss having good conversations about larger issues.

This retreat seems like a metaphor for so many things.  I'll leave with this Facebook post I made yesterday:  "Overheard at the Create in Me Retreat: "I thought I was making a pear, but maybe I'm making an apple." I'm willing to bet that this idea sums up many aspects of life for most of us."