Singles' Retreat '06 - Chemnitz, Germany

What a most fabulous weekend I had!! I just spent this past weekend at a single's retreat in Germany. I was lucky enough to get a ride from another single in the congregation, saving me from taking a 5 hour train ride! It was the best weekend ever!! There were a few singles at my church that wouldn't go, fearing there would be too much pressure on having to find "the one"...but c'mon! Really, it's just an excuse to get away from all those mushy married people. :)

We got in late, late Friday night due to some heavy rain, so I didn't really get to meet anyone until Saturday morning. The weekend consisted of 40 people from 7 different countries, ranging in ages from 18 to 52. It was such a great variety! The weekend was in English (just in case this information wasn't automatic after the "7 different countries" line) and the lessons were absolutely fabulous! The theme was "What Makes me Significant?", as we talked about the world's perspective on significance vs. God's perspective on significance. Fantastic lessons given by Brady Smith, an American missionary who has worked and lived in Switzerland for 22 years (and yes, Jessica...I asked him about you!). The place we stayed at was in the mountains away from all city life...bluer skies and greener grass than I've seen since I've been here! It was beautiful!!

Foosball was the hit of the weekend...and I had a hilarious time playing with Reynard and Nathaniel (to the left)...roommates from Brussels. I first approached Rey because he was wearing an OC t-shirt. Come to find out, he had been to OC the year before to check it out as a perspective student. Craziness! To the left is me overjoyed at scoring a point against Rey. He was trying to object to the picture being taken at this joyous time in my life...but Jordan was smart enough to take it anyway!

Anyway...I was amazed at how many Americans were there! I met a guy named Todd from Washington, DC...who was training for his job in Germany for 6 months...a girl named Princess who is studying in Roterrdam, Holland (who I will be visiting in November!)...another girl named Brielle who had taken a job teaching English in Germany, and a guy named J.R. who had only been in the country for 3 days, preparing to teach at a university for the first time in Germany, as well. It was a great encouragement to be able to hear everyone's story and talk to them about similar distresses and hurdles to overcome. The weekend was just so well planned-out and organized, that there was a perfect balance between "I HAVE to get to know other people" and "Here's some time to spend talking to whoever you want"! They have this single's retreat twice a year, and I am ever-so excited about going to the next one in April! Yay for church retreats!