UECM Family Retreat 2008

Hey Guys!:P

Just got back from the retreat yesterday...:P Still feeling "groggy" (have to admit...haha...) I was even too tired to open the PC when I got home yesterday!I slept right away upon getting home.That's why I'm just typing my entry now haha...Well, anyways...:D

This year,our church's family retreat was again held @ Oxford Hotel, Clark Eco Zone,Pampanga from March 19-22,2008.And just like last year,we stayed there for four days and three nights.But we formally started the retreat on March 20,2008(the second day) since the first night was a given free stay at the hotel.So it's free time for us though not inclusive of dinner...(Aww...haha!:P) So that night we had to go and eat outside and had our dinner at SM City Clark.
Since it was Holy Wednesday...SM had to close exactly at 9pm that night.After munching,we tried to make a few circles till the clock striked @ exactly 9.Woah...it's the first time I got to get the chance to see SM closing!Haha...anyways...Moving on...:P
When we got back to the hotel,I had to meet up with my pianist for rehearsal...Since I was attested to be the songleader in the children's division.And we hadn't had much practice back in Manila.There were still many songs we had to rehearse and with the guitarist this time.(the guitarist is my younger bro by the way haha...) We got back by 9:10 since the mall wasn't far away and it only took us a 10 minute drive back.My pianist arrived back from dinner @10 pm.So i had to wait for him for almost an hour.But good thing that he's already in our meeting place before 10:30....Although something really bad happened...(I'll be posting that incident next....so just check it out...) So we weren't really able to practice that night.So I just decided to get some sleep.For this year,I was in another room and wasn't staying with my parents.I shared a room with my choirmates hehe...and was bedmates with our boksu's daughter Wenslyn.:P We had fun by the way haha...Anyways...:P
The next day,(the official start of my job) I had to wake up @5:30 am to take a shower,blowdry my hair,and drop by my parent's room.Have breakfast by 7am and be done by 7:30 to rush for rehearsal and a prayer meeting scheduled at 7:45.The session officially starts at exactly 8:00 for singspiration and split groups afterwards.My worship teammates can already go after singspi session and go to the adults division for their activities.As for me,I had to stay since I was also one of the assistant teachers for the junior division.(So practically speaking,I was in the children's division the whole retreat)So it was really a brand new experience for me.This is my first time ever to be one of the handlers in the kids division.I got to handle 10-12 year old kids.(together with Achie Olivia) They were the oldest in the pack.The group I handled included my two other sibs!(Imagine that!) Since they were the "big kids",we expected them to be already disciplined and mature....But we were wrong...They were noisy!Very noisy!And they could be very demanding kids too!Luckily by God's grace,we were able to find a way to gain control over them.Yep...(Thanks to the score board!haha!)We splitted the group of 13 kids into two groups and conducted a contest for the whole period of the retreat.Whoever gets the most points would be given prizes on the last day of the retreat.So that's what kept them glued on to their seats.Though we had a pretty hard time controlling them,it was still a worthwhile experience for me.Our afternoons were free except for the third day of the camp wherein we had to participate in the sportsfest portion of the retreat.So for that afternoon,I went to explore Paradise Ranch with some of my fellow churchmates and my cousins.It was a wild life sanctuary located just around Clark.Well we had a great time there!Saw animals,took a lot of pictures and ofcourse bonded with the group.Even though the heat of the sun was very dehydrating....We still had fun hehe...:D Then the respected sessions resumed at 7:00 pm after eating our dinner at 6:00.The same routine went on for the rest of the retreat.The sportsfest event was loads of fun!haha...cheerin' for you team and all...There was the traditional eating contest,a new singing contest,obstacle course,ever-mouthwatering marshmallow shoot-out and the usual relay games.The games were really fun so everybody had a great time participating.But most importantly,all of us got to learn more about God.There are many first-timers who got to know Christ and accepted Him as their personal Lord and Saviour.Everybody had a lot of fun and fellowship with one another ,altogether learning more about God and serving all for His glory.
I'm really thankful that He gave me such an opportunity of a new experience and also to be eble to serve Him while enjoying it at the same time...:P And I really hope that it would always be like this in the other years to come...:P