VEF retreat - part 1
This weekend VEF (Victory English Fellowship) sponsored a retreat and the retreat was about spiritual gifts and just a time to get to know one another. I think we had like 22 people attend....a nice size group. We went to and stayed at Xitou Youth Center. It's a really pretty area -- with a variety of rooms you can stay in. Unfortunately it was raining most of the time we were there and I sadly didn't bring enough clothes for the little boys. But we had fun.
It's was a little tricky getting to where we were staying....all the signs were in Chinese and we just didn't have enough Chinese ability to ask for directions. Thankfully we had people who looked out for us and came looking for us and then had us follow them so that we could get to the place we were staying.
Where we stayed was absolutely gorgeous, the buildings were pretty and really didn't interfere with the scenery. The buildings were all separate buildings so if you wanted to a different area you would have to go outside and with the rain it made it a little tricky.
The weather cleared up some so we decided to go for a walk up to this sky walk. John took Little N and was off. Another couple took Little M and off they went. (I have to say that we are pretty blessed with how people from church just love our kids are willing to help out with them! My kids are VERY spoiled at our church -- with candy, treats and lots of attention!) So on the way up I was all by myself just free to take pictures and just enjoy the beautiful scenery.
Caught up to Little M and the people that were with him. One of the ladies told me that everyone had been talking to them and making comments about both Little M and N. Saying that they looked like little foreign dolls and were so cute. It's kind of amusing because while I have no idea what people are saying to both me and my kids -- when we are out in public my kids and I (because I'm pregnant) get a lot of attention. So it was kind of interesting to finally know what people could possibly be saying to me as we are walking.
Finally caught up to John and Little N by the sky walk area. Little N ran up to me and told me that he was going on the sky walk with me and that it wasn't scary. But he was coming with me because he knew I would be scared (I'm slightly afraid of heights and bridges -- bridges because of a certain husband who will remain nameless.) and wanted to protect me. Walked around the sky walk and it wasn't that bad until someone in the group shook a tree and it gave the illusion that I was moving. It was beautiful to see everything from way up high.
After the sky walk we switched kids and started walking back. Little N had SO much to tell me from his walk with his daddy and everything that he saw. It was kind of funny, the family that was walking with me was just so surprised that he didn't really stop talking the entire time we walked back. As we were walking back it started to POUR down on us. So hard that my umbrella wasn't protecting me but actually raining on me. Thankfully we got back and dried off and it was a fun story to tell.
Ate dinner and then had our first session. The interesting thing about being at a retreat where your husband is leading is that while you can get visit with people and get to know people. It's really not that relaxing for you and while the kids can see their daddy, they can't spend time with their daddy, so it was a good weekend it just wasn't a relaxing weekend.
The sessions were great -- John did a great job talking about spiritual gifts and having activities that made everyone interact with one another. It was a good retreat.
It's was a little tricky getting to where we were staying....all the signs were in Chinese and we just didn't have enough Chinese ability to ask for directions. Thankfully we had people who looked out for us and came looking for us and then had us follow them so that we could get to the place we were staying.
Where we stayed was absolutely gorgeous, the buildings were pretty and really didn't interfere with the scenery. The buildings were all separate buildings so if you wanted to a different area you would have to go outside and with the rain it made it a little tricky.
Finally caught up to John and Little N by the sky walk area. Little N ran up to me and told me that he was going on the sky walk with me and that it wasn't scary. But he was coming with me because he knew I would be scared (I'm slightly afraid of heights and bridges -- bridges because of a certain husband who will remain nameless.) and wanted to protect me. Walked around the sky walk and it wasn't that bad until someone in the group shook a tree and it gave the illusion that I was moving. It was beautiful to see everything from way up high.
The sessions were great -- John did a great job talking about spiritual gifts and having activities that made everyone interact with one another. It was a good retreat.
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