Immeasurably More... A Retreat at Loreto

It was with a little trepidation that I turned up at Loreto on Thursday last week for our first retreat of the new academic year. Now, I have been running these retreats for three years, so you would think I would know what I am doing by now, and therefore I shouldn’t be feeling nervous. But I had decided before the summer was out, that I needed to shake things up a bit at the retreats, because it was definitely time for change. So, the root of my anxiety was actually the fear of the unknown – would the changes I had made work, would the students like them, would the day still go smoothly?

But I need not have worried -the day went so well. The changes we made were all a big hit with the Year 10's. The students were allowed to wear their own clothes rather than come in school uniform, and we gave them fresh donuts at the start of the day – and let’s be honest, most teenagers love a highly processed, sugary snack don’t they?  And running three sessions instead of four, we gave them more space than in previous retreats, to enjoy being together.  All these small changes made for a relaxed, and fun atmosphere, and feedback from the students was very positive.

Our theme was Relationships, and the sessions we ran focused on three aspects: “Me Myself and I,” explored our relationship with ourselves and students learned about how to notice and retrain unhealthy thoughts, using the phrase “Catch it, Check it, Change it.” Our fast paced, interactive session called “Life Auction,” allowed students to bid on a huge range of items, including good looks, true love, a date with a celebrity and finding a cure for cancer. Charlotte’s highlight was when one girl bid her entire amount of money on a relationship with God, which left another student devastated that she had missed out. It allowed Charlotte to reassure her that in real life our relationship with God comes is freely available to everyone!  And finally, our prayer space allowed students to engage with topics like gratitude, forgiveness, and rest. Volunteer Jane loved being in this space and found time to pray with a group of students who mentioned it as one of their highlights when asked for feedback at the end of the day.

There were so many other God moments and highlights, there isn’t space to mention them all. It really was a blessed day.  A massive thank you as ever to all the team: Geoff, Charlotte, Mary, Manjit, Jane and Graeme, and of course Miss O’Callaghan at Loreto. And I can’t forget Morrisons who kindly donated 180 donuts to Step! Thank you!

As I left Loreto at the end of the day, I shot up a prayer thanking God that He had done more than I had asked for. I suddenly felt a little jolt and a whisper from the Holy Spirit – how could I doubt that God would do anything less than MORE than I asked? After all doesn’t He promise in Ephesians 3:20 to do “immeasurably more than we ask or imagine!” It was most definitely something to ponder as I drove home with a full, happy and grateful heart at a day well spent.

Amy :)