My church retreat was AWESOME!!! A lot of veterans (such as moi) are saying that this was the best retreat EVER! This is ironic because a lot of people were having melt-downs because of the planning involved, including me. I know for a fact Adrian, Mindy and Rosa were having heart attacks the whole time, but everything went off without a hitch, Thanks be to God!

The theme was "A Walk With Jesus". There were testamonies on living a Christ-like life that really got to everyone. Mela gave a talk, and she was so nervous, poor baby. Rita gave a really beautiful talk about her four year old cousin that had a mature view of God for her age. Her cousin's name was Lisa and she had cancer, but all the time believed in the will of God and trusted him with everything. Three months ago to the date that Rita gave her talk, Lisa passed away. God and his graces work in mysterious ways and I'm glad that Rita found a way to reach others through this tragedy. There was even one from Phil, and I dated this guy for a year and I NEVER knew how eliquent and well-spoken he could be when prompted!

The powerful parts of the three days came down to the confessions, the adoration, and the Passion play that was put on. Each teen recieved a CD of Christian rock music and a lovely shirt at the end of the retreat!

The theme song was "Blessed be His Name" and it's a beautifu song, and Steve was there to sing it and a retreaten called Rudy played the drums and he did a terrifical job!

I was assigned to assist Rosa's small group along with Rita and I'm so glad for that because I get along with both of them really well. Rosa wasn't staying the night so I needed to take charge, but Rita was the one that really took charge. She's Egypt-rock cool that way! She told me later on that she at first didn't know how to approach me, but her sister (Jane) told her how easy it is, and Rita told me that she respects me more now. I don't know why, but I learned not to question these things. It's beautiful in its mystery.

There were only a few let-downs: little brother chickened out at the last minute and did not come to the retreat. :( (On God's time, not ours I suppose) It broke my mother's heart because this means that he's not going to get confirmed this Tuesday. (And it's going to have really bad ramifications for Little Bro himself because my uncle (the guy he chose to be his God Father) is going to say a thing or two to him about this) My brother (from another mother) Daniel got into some trouble when he led some teens on a four-hour hike into rattle snake infested canyons. But it was for a personal cause and he did succeed in reaching the goal: a cross on the top of a very steep moutain. And the same brother, the guy I dated, and this other guy, Danny C., got into a chocolate milk drinking contests, and, well, let's just say they were all losers. I got to expierience the Midnight Cafe` for the first time and that was a lot of fun! I ate some chicken and had some soda.

I feel a change, and I'm going to try to be a better Merci than I've been. It's a good thing I suppose. I'm glad to be back with my comp, my cell phone, my musica, and my kitty! (Who's still prego and FAT! OMGoodness, she's FAT!!!!!

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