- Monday, September 01, 2003
Weekend Getaway
We took off last Friday, about 6:30pm because the first session supposed to start at 9pm sharp. Riverside took about 1.5hrs driving from my place, going down Southeast. I drove with 3 friends in my car, and oh yes, I have to tell this story too. When we were about to get there, I was driving and looking for a street name, North St. suddenly, I saw this car headlights heading towards my lane. This freakin' car was IN MY LANE! I was like, 'Hm, what is that car doing in my lane?? isn't he supposed to be on the OTHER side of the road??" Me and my silent thoughts. And then, right about maybe couple of seconds there, suddenly I honked my horn as loud as it can be, because the car was still, heading towards us. Jadi depan2an gitu, hadep2an, kayak mo nabrak dari depan, front -to- front. Gila kan? pengen deh di
So, well, yeah that was pretty shockin'. When we finally got there, it was about 8:30pm, so we weren't late, and in fact, we were on time. The first night was kinda tough, I missed my bed, my computer :P We slept in a dormitory for the girls, kayak satu ruangan hall gede banget, dibagi2 twin beds gitu sekitar hmm 50 beds. Yang cowo2 juga dibagi2 dorm sendiri. Then the next morning, on saturday, we had breakfast at 8am -- bacon, omelette and bread. I showed up pretty late, but this friend of mine *ehm* called me to sit with him hehehehe.... padahal the girls udah siap2 mau suruh gue ambil bangku lagi, utk duduk bareng mereka. Well, it was nice sitting face-to-face with him ;) haven't done that in a long time hhehee abis udah 7 taon ga ketemu dia, rasanya hepiiiii aja bisa ketemu lagi
Well, to make the story short, this retreat is a very special event for me this year. It's been a while since I had one of these, and somehow it still awesome to be with about 80 people, young people, young generation, radical followers of Christ to just praise and worship, and learn more about His love. This is what I called, a weekend getaway that can't never be replaced with some cruise vacation! :)
Really. It's simply sweet and marvelous feeling to praise God in the same room as those young hearts who love their Lord so much. We sang, we clapped our hands, we lifted up our voices as one to worship, we cried and bow down and witnessed His wonderful love, we heard and confirmed again the Good News of salvation, we shared our experiences in walking with Him.... I just can't describe into words, you have to be there yourself. It's like this chocolate cake that I decided to use as a symbol. God's love is like a free chocolate cake offered to you - for free, no obligations, you just have to ask for it, and then take it. So delicious, so free, offered so much with love. I was kinda sad last night when it was the last night of this whole weekend retreat. Especially after a 'lenong' presented by my friends, those whom given the gift of 'sukacita' hehehee.... btw, they really can act! Gila padahal gak ada rehearsal sama sekali. Itu aja lucunya udah 1/2 mati, sampe ketawa2 sampe keluar aer mata hehehe saking lucunya. Acara lenong'nya ini hm they made up this short drama and presented to us in the last night of the retreat.
And lastly, oh yeah, from one of the sessions, I was reminded again about His everlasting love.... through this song, and it touched my heart deeply, indeed.
we are the reason that He suffered and died
to a world that was lost, He gave all He could give
to show us the reason to live
God bless you all. Love U ! *mwaa*
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