Lauren In Alaska: October 2012

It's that time of year again - the time of the CYAK Young Adult Retreat!

Its hard to believe that I have now gone to the CYAK Young Adult Retreat FIVE times. Eek! Sure makes it sound like I've been up here a while! But it has proven to be such a blessing to me. This time around, instead of going through what the retreat looks like (since I have before, and since you can read about it by clicking here), I just want to do a little reflecting on what the retreat has come to mean to me over the past couple of years.

There are many things I could say about the way this annual gathering has impacted my time serving with CYAK in Alaska, but I am going to stick to three things that I find this retreat to be - and I think that I am not alone in feeling this way - in fact it is my prayer that everyone who comes to this retreat shares some of the same sentiments.

It is life-giving. This one is pretty straight forward. Every time I leave this retreat, I feel full of life. The Lord has and continues to use this retreat as a way to bring clarity and perspective to life. I always feel re-centered and reminded of the Lord's presence in my life. It can be easy at times to let my focus become fuzzy and begin thinking on the things that don't bring me joy and excitement about being alive. But that is not how we are intended to be! And whenever I come to this retreat, I am reminded of that. I find myself leaving feeling so joyful every time :)

It is reassuring. Every time I go to this retreat I leave feeling so thankful to be a part of CYAK's ministry, and excited about counting to serve with CYAK. I think this due to a lot of factors, but is in part because it is a time during the year that I am able to see the fruit of our labor. It is awesome to witness the way that the Lord works in the lives of young people form all over Alaska, and to see students leave feeling encouraged and excited about their faith. It's pretty awesome, and reminds me that good work is being done through this ministry!

It is comforting. This retreat is one of the few times during the year that brings many of the people who I have grown close to in Alaska together in one place. Both staff and students that I have developed relationships with come, and I feel at home. Living thousands of miles away from my Colorado home and family means that I miss them a lot! And so I am thankful to have people in Alaska who make me feel home too. As we left, I just kept thinking, 'Man. These are my people!' I am so thankful to have that!

More could be said, as always. But for now, I will leave you with a few pictures from the weekend. To see more pics, visit the CYAK website here: http://www.cyak.org/young-adult-retreat---september-2012.html