5 things to learn from a church weekend away
Our family love church weekends away: I think we were even the first to book on this one! A church weekend should help you learn new things, as well as spending time together as a church family. So, here are 5 things we learnt on this church weekend away.
- Food feeds conversation. As a family, we set ourselves the challenge of sitting with different people every mealtime. As our children are old enough to sit the other side of the table(!), it meant that Andy and I were able to have proper conversations with people (albeit interrupted intermittently with “bottoms on seats”, “knives and forks are not just for decoration”, etc.). And we learnt all sorts of things about you lot, some of which were interesting, some funny, and some of which have helped to guide our prayers for you. There’s something about eating together that helps to break down barriers and leads to deeper conversations.
- Our speaker, Simon Duan, was a PE teacher. And a Science teacher. And a school counsellor. As well as a few other jobs: all at the same time! Simon, from Hillview, spoke on the topics of Joy in Christ, Peace in Christ, Freedom in Christ, and Life in Christ. He spoke from a refreshingly personal perspective on each of these, drawing from the Bible and his own experience of when God seemed not to answer, and sometimes gave us questions to discuss in groups. I really liked this opportunity to talk through the topics a bit further with others, although I know small group discussion isn’t everybody’s cup of tea!
- Green paint takes 2 washes to come out of clothes. Thankfully, it does comes out. The teaching sessions were separated by age, so the youth, the children, and the adults were all learning the same, just in different rooms. In the “Life in Christ” session, the children painted their feet (green) and walked along a piece of paper to portray following Jesus. Let’s hope that what they learned lasts longer than the paint in their clothes!
- If you need to know a hamster’s gender, don’t ask Kim. We learnt this, as well as things about other certain couples, during Tricia’s memorable Play Your Cards Right. But I can’t tell you any more, as what happens during a church weekend away, stays on a church weekend away. Other activities on offer included walks, quizzes, sport, table football, scrabble and human cluedo. More intrepid members tackled a high ropes course or climbing and abseiling. And big thanks to Gracie and Nahum for entertaining us with their gymnastic and magic skills.
- A weekend is just the beginning… Since the weekend away, what has changed for our family? Well, that’s a good question. It takes time to mull over and digest the teaching we received, and little things each day might remind me of what I’ve learned. For me, the challenge is to continue remembering, and trying to incorporate it into my Christian walk. To take a look back at my notes from time to time, to talk about it in Community Groups, and to continue to find my joy, peace, freedom and life in Christ.
