MS Ignite Retreat

This past weekend was our school's annual middle school retreat, called Ignite.  I went along as a chaperone and re-entered the world of middle school youth retreats.  I went on plenty of similar trips when I was in middle school, then accompanied our Jr high youth group at my home church on plenty more, but this was my first one with ICS.  We left school at 2pm Friday for a 5 hour drive(!) to a resort that also sort of functioned as a youth camp. They had great facilities for sports and swimming and a bonfire, in addition to a small ropes course. 

The weekend was high on fun, if low on sleep.  At least the teachers were able to share rooms with teachers, so as long as I couldn't hear the kids from my bed (which I couldn't, bless the Lord) it didn't matter to me how late they stayed up in their own rooms (natural consequences, right?).  We spent Saturday morning doing the ropes course- one of my favorite parts. I loved watching my group try new things, succeeding at some and being able to laugh at themselves on the things they fell off of (into a pond/lakish bit of water).  It was especially great to see the student in my group with special needs be able to participate in most things right alongside her peers. 

My other favorite bit was swimming during the freetime on Saturday afternoon.  After a nice nap I went up to the pool, which had a small slide. The kids were so excited to have a few teachers get in the water and were eager to go down the slide with us. It was cute, and a great way to just spend time with the students in a way that I certainly don't every day!  

This was the first youth trip I'd ever taken that wasn't with Knox, my home church, which made it pretty odd for me. There were so many things I realized that I assumed just happened, or happened in a certain way, because of my time with Knox. The older I get, the more I really appreciate the youth pastor and program that we have there! 

I crashed last night after some dinner and a massage, and felt surprisingly normal today.  The students were already asking me yesterday afternoon if I'd go again next year. We'll see.