I had a dream. If I ever went on YL staff, I would make sure we had a WL leader retreat. This weekend, that dream came true.
The setting-- a beautiful home/cabin/lodge in Nashville, IN that's owned by the Glanders family. I've known them for as long as I can remember through Tecumseh and Karen has always told me that we can use this place. It was perfect for what we wanted to do this weekend.
The people-- our WL life team is made up of both adult and HS leaders. The timing of this weekend ended up working out for Cailtin and I (the adults) and Wash, Elise, Megan, Caroline, Cass, Meric, Lauren, Maddie and Kaylee (the HS girls).
The plan-- from the start, I wanted this time together to be about rest, community, growth, WL kids and fun. Thanks to planning with Cass and Maddie, borrowing ideas from KCraig and CILTs, and the culture this group created, all of those things happened.
A different set of 3 girls were in charge of each meal. They planned ahead, bough the groceries, cooked the food and then cleaned up the kitchen. I loved seeing them get excited about their meal and taking ownership of this part of the weekend.
The Shieling is surrounded by woods so we took the opportunity for solo time. Girls explored different spots and worked on writing out their testimonies.
Back together, cozy in the cottage with mugs of coffee in our hands, we all shared our stories. We know one another in varying degrees, so spending our time listening to how God has worked in each person's life was valuable and eye-opening.
While it was still light out, we hiked back out into the snow together. Caitlin is a photographer and she took pictures of the whole gang which was really fun. The weather has finally warmed up and it was such a gift to just be outside without freezing.
In just a few months most of us will be at Michindoh for Wyld Life Camp with nearly 100 of our 7th and 8th grade friends. We prayed over the list of names of girls who have already signed up and then we dove into a tradition KCraig created in our YL area. Collectively, the 11 of us wrote a letter to all 75 of the girls who have registered for camp.
During our pizza party dinner we talked about the privilege of being a WL leader and how they've been surprised in their time leading in this role so far. I always appreciate their honesty and I loved hearing what each of them had to say.
"I was afraid I wouldn't know what to say when the kids asked questions, but I know more than I thought I did."
"It's a team effort-- I'm not on my own as a leader."
"Contact work is so much harder than I thought it would be."
"It's more fun than I thought it would be. They talk a lot more than I thought they would."
"I'm involved in so much but WL is my favorite thing-- it's not a stressful commitment."
"I wish all of the WL leaders had more of a community and wanted to hang out together outside of WL stuff."
"I thought kids would ask more about things like how to pray or how to read the bible, but they ask about technical things like dinosaurs."
"I thought it would be way easier to make friends with the WL kids... but sometimes they just walk away from me."
"Sometimes I feel like I'm not cool enough for them."
We picked themes for our last 4 WL Clubs of the year and used our collective brain power to plan out all the games and songs and supply lists. Now we're pumped for Winter Olympics Club, the Lock-In, College Game Day and Minute To Win It.
We played Family, ate cookie cake, and sang along with Caroline until late in the night. We didn't want our first day together to end.
We slept in late and I woke up to the smell of coffee and the sound of the coffee pot gurgling. Caroline and Caitlin were already up having quiet time. Cass and I started making breakfast-- she tackled mini waffles and I cooked up more bacon than I ever have in my life.
We talked about self-awareness and I introduced these leaders to the Human Barometer activity that we created for the CILTs at Tecumseh. I don't think self-awareness is ever easy, but I'm thankful we took the opportunity to give each other feedback and to engage in a conversation that really matters and affects our lives beyond this season of life.
Lastly, we talked about the culture of Campaigners and the particular group of girls we're getting to know. Every week, I'm with Maddie, Wash, Meric, Cass and Kaylee and our 7th grade girls from the Clubhouse. We talked about how to best use our time in Campaigners, how to make all of the girls feel included and where to go next. We planned some time to hang out with them next weekend and I'm excited for us to be in it together. I'm incredibly proud of these HS girls and how I've seen them grow and sacrificially serve this year.
Back in Fishers I couldn't wait to mail the letters we wrote-- start checking your mailboxes girls. And it only took minutes before Cassidy uploaded a video of our weekend. Go watch it here. She is so talented and beautifully captured our time together.
Update: Photos from Caitlin! Her work is phenomenal.
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