You are invited!

We are very excited about the Bemidji Winter Retreat coming up next month. This is an annual rally our church holds which is a lot of fun. We have been having it since I was a little kid and so it has been a big part of my growing up. The date this year is March 14-16 and you are all invited to come! Everybody is welcome!



The flyer was created by Emily and I copied it from her site to share with you. If you click on it you can see the details better.



Our speaker this year is Kevin Bibbee who preaches at the Church of Christ in Woodbury, MN. I have heard him before and found him to be a very good speaker. I am very much looking forward to hearing him speak on this year's theme.



The theme for the Retreat this year is "For all God has done". The idea came from the song "For all You've done" which was sung by Point of Grace. It is a really neat song and I wanted to share it with you. We just learned it last night at church. I was trying to figure out how you could hear it and decided I could video tape myself (or rather have Mara do it, she also joins in off and on) so if you want you can listen. I also found the words which are in a box on my side bar. Don't worry, I am not going to be singing it solo at the Retreat. I think I will be playing it on my violin.

At our Retreat we always have a lot of music of various styles. This year we are planning on doing contemporary praise music on Saturday morning. On Saturday afternoon the plan is to have some Acappella singing and then some more bluegrass style music as well as a time that visitors can share special music. On Sunday there will be more traditional hymns with just the piano. No matter what style we are doing we hope that all will give glory and praise to our great God!

We also have skits planned for every session that we hope you will enjoy and gain from.

Food is something else that we enjoy at our Retreat. All the ladies bring stuff and pitch in to make some very yummy meals. We have scalloped potatoes and ham for lunch on Saturday, Chili, Wild Rice soup and Chicken noodle soup for supper and then for lunch on Saturday we get Fried Chicken and Ice cream sundaes for dessert. One of my jobs is to bring rolls for which I will be using this recipe.

We also enjoy the various activities. Friday evening is a fun time of playing games with a point. Also we just try to get to know one another better and have fun together. (We also have to through in a little eating.) On Saturday afternoon there will be a recreation time and then Saturday evening I believe there will be the annual scavenger hunt for the high school and college age people.

And lastly one of my favorite parts getting to have company stay with us. A lot of good fellowship happens in the evenings and mornings when we get to have out of town guests at our house. The Retreat is completely free to come to and we try to provide lodging for anybody that wants it that is coming from out of town. If you have any questions fill free to e-mail me. (There is also a phone number on the poster).