Finally the photos are out! Here's how some of us enjoyed the many games and stuff at the recent OLPS Youth June retreat, themed "From Friends to Family". We covered the themes of being One Body, Working together, and being Many Parts but One.
Have fun!
At the recent OLPS Youth retreat (I promise pictures out soon)... I was blindfolded during one of the games - where we had to cross a "river" and some of us were lame, no hands, or blind. And yes, so I was blind. And gosh that was the worst of all.. Without sight, you'll actually find it hard to use BOTH your hands and legs... and effectively your whole physical movement is hampered coz you can't see anything! So it's as good as being all blind, lame and hand-less.
From top to bottom: Audrey, Marlene & Sam trying to get "across the river"....
And me being such a visual-reliant person - who relies on the visual rather than touch - i was really struggling.
So then when I read this story below - it showed me that I can actually relax - even though i can't see ahead (in terms of things like my future, my life ahead of me).... -- as GOD is there first. And -- before all my steps ahead -- God also is first.. He walks ahead of me! ;)
Have a good read:
Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian Youth's rite of passage?
His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience because! each lad must come into manhood on his own.
The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!
Finally, after a horrific night, the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.
We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, our Heavenly Father is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.
If you liked this story, pass it on. If not, perhaps you took off your blindfold before dawn.
Moral of the Story:
Just because you can't see God, doesn't mean He is not there.
"For we walk by faith, not by sight."
~ 2 Corinthians 5:7 ~
And so TGIF -- is not just Thank God It's Friday -- then God is only there on Friday? but "Today God Is First" and so that can be any day and every day!
