Another Amazing Weekend...

Saturday marked the first "seek-rets" event... The "Super Seek-ret Sleepover"...

I have been working toward this event for a long time. Really, I wanted to do something like this several years ago, but these things take time, and before I could actually get the thing off the ground, there was no ground from which to get it off... long story...

I put a lot of planning into this day. And since I have a bit of an aversion to doing anything small, the event grew to epic proportions... until it was really more like a retreat than a slumber party... but who's really keeping track, right?

I had a busy week leading up to the "Super Seek-ret Sleepover"... It included painting Grace's room (which still needs a third coat)... but I suppose I really need to tell that tale and post some pictures at another time... The point is, I was already pretty tired...

A couple of hours into the event, I actually said to myself, "Maybe I'm in the wrong line of work"... Nothing terrible had happened or anything. I was just wiped out. But, I'm not in the wrong line of work...

This ended up being one of the most amazing weekends ever... again!

We had such a great time doing facials... manicures... pedicures... hair... and make-up. This was followed by a photo shoot, which was definitely the most truly "fun" part of the day/night for me. We did crafts... shot a few guys who tried to crash the party... watched a movie... and had an impromptu talent show... and then we had a group time that was actually a bit on the shocking side for me...

I know that a lot of these girls came to have fun, and to tell you the truth, that was a huge reason I planned this! It seems that somewhere along the line, many of these girls have already gotten the idea that it is impossible to live a life that is pleasing to God and to have fun at the same time. That breaks my heart, because most of these girls were 11-14 years old! So, I really wanted them to have a lot of fun!

I had planned a short devotional time, and to say that I "planned" it is really stretching. I had a folded up piece of paper in my back pocket that had three verses on it, and I wanted to share a few stories about my life as an 8th grader... I wanted to challenge these girls to think about giving God a chance to fill their lives... I thought this might take 15-20 minutes... tops...

Well, I think it was about an hour and a half later, when we finally got up! It was just incredible. God used our time together, and He spoke to me... and to the adult leaders... and to the girls who were there. And, you know... even then... we were having a great time!

I talked with several girls later about different issues they are facing in their lives, and the more we talked, the more I started to think, "Yeah... this is why I'm here"... not just in the immediate sense, but... well... in the big picture.

Then we consumed two colossal ice cream sundaes... and I went home to print pictures and put together a quick slide show. I returned to the firehouse in time to incorrectly arm the building and crash on the sound room floor for about 2 1/2 hours, without a blanket or pillow...

I cannot wait until our next seek-rets event... details coming soon...

Lisa

PS Below is the new and improved slideshow... with lots more pics... L.