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Reflection: Bobcat Awakening #26, February 29-March 2, 2008, Texas State

Saturday, March 1, 2008:

I woke up to the scrambling of girls getting out of their bunk beds, taking cold showers, cleaning up in front of the mirror, and all that good stuff. I, however, resorted to hairspraying my hair in two French braids and curls on either side of my face.

All the retreatants sat at their family table, and the staffers put on a dance-off to see which family got to go eat first; I never thought that the winner would look to me to be his best friend. The day started off with a few speakers and activities. At this point, I was still closed off from my new family; I wanted to open up and have a good time just like most of the retreatants there, but nothing triggered my enthusiasm. Even the morning run-around was fun - my partner for one round was a 'dad' for another family, and he was so excited that his energy just rubbed off, and I wanted to have as much fun as he was - but I still didn't open up.

Then the Faith speaker came out. I was intrigued with his "Sonic story" - it was God-humor beyond expanation. [I found out when we got back from B.A. that his g'f was in my Astronomy Lab class; small world]. When he played a song by Skillet, I was like, "Yeah, I know that band; they rock!"

I'm still not opening up... and we had lunch (I should probably note that almost every meal was spent sitting next to other retreatants from other families; I met some great people!). This meal was spent at our family tables, and anohter speaker talked about God & Golf with his huge driver, Bertha. I think its name was Bertha.

Then, the skit-ers performed, and, I must admit, this broke my barriers. Two words: Lifehouse Everything. It was so moving, personal, and inspirational that I shed two tears, one each eye (I kept myself from breaking down... even though I really wanted to). Then she came out; she spoke about Love. I cried - not bawling, but sniffling - and, looking at her personal story versus my own, I felt so selfish and stupid. But, I felt I had my good reasons to feel unloved. Anyways, I could feel her, and all I wanted to do was give her a hug, like all her friends had done, even though I didn't even know her.

The next speaker talked about "Mysticism" and God. He turned out to be the 'dad' that was my temporary partner earlier. His energy was so strong and genuine that this conscience-like voice in my head said, "Get to know him one day. You'll never regret befriending him." The activity was fun, too; yay, yarn!!

The speaker after him talked about "Vocation." He turned out to be a gentleman in my Curriculum & Instruction class; we were in the same row and thus the same discussion group. He was funny, and his speech was fantastic!

By the end of all the speakers, it was early evening, and the individual families split apart from each other to plan their skits. I must admit, my family's skit was DEFINITELY top three - PLUS, we got extra bonus points for our tribute to the C-O-O-K-S-T-A-F-F, Aaa-F-F!! By this time, I had opened up to the whole experience, thinking, "By now, I know that this weekend will turn out to end better than I thought it ever could be."

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To Be Continued...