The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite Star Wars movie. The movie further develops our beloved characters and we get to see them respond to the direst of circumstances. One of Empire’s greatest scenes is the battle on Hoth, which ends with that mustached guy yelling, “Retreat!”
The word “retreat” has some negative connotations attached to it. This past weekend, though, we redeemed the word on our youth ministry staff retreat.
I love being a youth pastor but I wouldn’t love it nearly as much if it weren’t for the volunteer leaders I work with. We have an amazing team of people who are both committed to God and our students. This past weekend we took the opportunity to get away with our leaders and enjoy some time away simply hanging out with each other.
We all really enjoy hanging out with each other and spending time together. However most of our time together is spent hanging out with students and not each other. A weekend like this gives us all a chance to get away without the kids and spend time investing in our own relationships.
Not only was it an opportunity to retreat and relax, but it was also a great opportunity to get a little nerdy with my friends.
We played The Resistance.
We played Settlers of Catan.
We played Lord of the Rings Risk.
And a few of us even bought some Magic cards, built our decks and dueled against each other (more on that later this week).
Retreat doesn’t always have to be bad. This weekend our staff retreated from some of the things that keep us from spending time together. And, by retreating in that manner, we ended up winning.
What do you gain when you retreat?
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