Thank You!

This past weekend (2/15-17/2019) some youth, chaperones, and I attended the Higher Things Retreat: A Beautiful War, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sheboygan, WI.  It was a treat to see so many young people gathered together in one place to be built up in faith and truth through the study of God’s Word! There was a great deal of joy, excitement, enthusiasm during the time we were together. and yet it was amazing to see the reverence toward God, and the respect toward one another exhibited in all who attended. New friends were made, old acquaintances renewed, and time of refreshment and recharging in God’s Word took place. A truly humbling event to be a part of.

Such an event does not just happen all by itself. There are months of planning, complete with meetings and gathering of volunteers for the various tasks that need to be accomplished. Some faces are forefront and some others are behind the scenes, but all needed to accomplish their work to make such a monumental undertaking to happen.

So, I want to publicly say thank you!

Hans and Heidi Otten were the faces of the event, running around, being here and there, making sure things got done! But they were not alone, others worked with them. My apologies for not knowing all the names. To you all – Thanks!

Pastors John Berg and Tim Mech were the host pastors. They planned and organized worship – Thanks! I would guess they were instrumental in the initial stages of the whole process, and probably involved in a multitude of things throughout, but most especially in scheduling the plenary and sectional speakers among them – Thanks!

How do you keep 160 or so odd teens and their chaperones fed and happy? While I am not sure this is ever an accomplished task with teens, the sheer magnitude of keeping that many satisfied for approximately 40 continuous hours is daunting to my mind. To Carmen Dolson and her crew of dedicated volunteers – Thanks!

Dave Jablonski again ran around with his camera in order to make a digitalized, photographic history of the event available – Thanks!

Rev. Jonathan Fisk opened the minds of all this weekend with his plenary presentations, his sermon, and finally with the Bible Study on Sunday. Not only should we thank him, but also the members of the congregation entrusted to his care who allowed him to be with us – Thanks!

Thank you to the pastors who took the time to lead sectionals, to teach and proclaim God’s Word, the vehicle by which the Holy Spirit could enlighten minds and build faith – Thanks!

I am sorry that I do not know all the names of those who made this retreat happen, but I want to say thank you to all of them. I am sure they are legion.

Thanks to Trinity Lutheran church for again hosting this event, many hands were involved – Thank you!

A special shout to the teachers who had to make sure rooms were cleaned and desks moved so we had a place to sleep, and to the Sunday School staff who had to frantically get the rooms ready for Sunday School in the morning – Thanks!

Thanks be to God who has called us all to be His saints, His beloved children, that He would bring us together and see that His body is made up of so many parts! We are indeed blessed of God!