Winter Retreat 2009

Top --The Klein/Ciulla Siblings :)
Laura and I - my favorite youth!

Jonica and I taking a skiing break - brrr! Tyler with a thumbs down and me with a #1 -- Tyler admitting I am better than him at skiing - it was a beautiful sound!
Below -- Jacob, Brandon, Tyler and Micah hitting the slopes.



This was the first trip Tyler and I took as Youth helpers/workers and it was amazing! Lexington Community Church traveled in two church vans with 16 youth and 4 adults (us and Brandon and Steph) up to Wisconsin. We arrived Saturday afternoon - got unpacked and headed out for the slopes. Skiing has always been something I've loved - but Tyler may disagree after falling countless times down the easy and expert slopes. The kids had a blast despite the cold weather! Sunday we headed to the Dells to the indoor water park - Kalahari - which is always a favorite as well. There were a lot of slides and of course the lazy river :) When we returned Tyler was priviledged to have prepared the message for the kids on Acts 2:42-47. God spoke through Tyler and it was so cool to see him connect with the youth in that way - I can't wait for our ministry to fully begin once we have our own youth group! Once Tyler was done he asked the youth to split up into small groups to talk about the changes we can make in our lives to be more like Christ at our schools, community, and at home. I got to be in a group of 7th grade girls during this part which was cool to hear what they had to say.
We headed home on Monday to Lexington and once there Tyler and I ventured another 4 hours straight back to Marion - lots of driving!!! We definitely saw God work through the youth as well as ourselves this weekend. Our prayer is that God continues to strengthen this love we have for youth and someday in the ministry wherever that is he calls us too :)
We are now home in Indiana for quite some time, we are guessing Easter is the next time we make it to IL. We are looking foward to spring break in Sarasota, FL with John and Larissa the first week in March -- yay!!!