Mini Retreat

From last Wednesday night to last Thursday night I went on a mini retreat with my good friend Zach. I've been meeting with him these past two years for the Discipleship Small Group ministry at Wheaton College, and I've enjoyed every minute of it. I've seen him grow and I've seen God at work in his life and we've shared so much together, especially this last year.
As the year ended we came up with a plan to hang out and get some good time away, expectant for God to speak to us and refresh us after a challenging year of studies. We planned to go to Starved Rock State Park for a day of hiking and enjoying God's creation together. There aren't many places better in Illinois and less than a 2 hour drive away from Wheaton!
Our time went as follows:
Zach drove up to Wheaton and attended the College Group bible study that I was leading on Wednesday night. After a great time of diving into God's word, we headed off to his house in his car (after briefly stopping in at my house to pick up a few things). We caught up and had some edifying conversation on the 45 min drive down to his house. Before hitting the sack we listened to a Mark Driscoll sermon that was both encouraging and convicting about the centrality of God's word.
We woke up about 8:30am, ate a light breakfast, packed lunches and headed out. During the drive we listened to Behold the Lamb, which I love too much to confine just to Christmas time, as well as some other good hymns and such.
After a quick peak in the Visitor's Center, we hit the trails. It was a delight to see the beauty of the vistas and to feel the fresh air in our lungs as we plodded our way through much of the park. I think we struck a good balance between getting a good workout of walking in and also going to retreat and relax. We also got to deepen our relationship and delve into more about our pasts and hopes for our futures and how God has been, is and will be at the center of it all.
Among other things, we consulted one of his plant life books to try and identify a few of the bushes and trees, read all the signs as we went along--thereby learning alot as we went along, talked to a few people (especially this one elderly man, who had Zach try and help his wife with a computer problem over the cell phone, while I engaged him in a little conversation steering it toward one aspect of the gospel, namely that who or what we worship matters immensely and may destroy or liberate us), and also read aloud (for most of it right in the middle of Owl canyon with our voices resounding) the book of Revelation starting after the seven churches.
The ride back was equally enjoyable, as was the time with his family afterward, dinner and desert, and attending his college group that evening before he took me home. All in all it was a success. God blessed and refreshed us in some meaningful ways.
Among my takeaways from this experience I would definitely have to put down the value of reading a lot of scripture and soaking in God. More than planning or journaling or trying really hard to delve into my own soul to discern myself, just reading God's word and letting it do the discerning is, I think, most wise.