One Body

This year marked the 5th annual Freshmen/New Student Retreat for CCM! My first year in college, we had no such thing, and my second year, several of my friends created the first one, which I had the privilege of teaming. So, along with Marianne, I have had the joy of seeing this retreat grow from the original brainchild several years ago to what it was last weekend.

Last weekend we took the largest group of new students in CCM history to the retreat center by the river. Our team had been forming since the end of last year and had come together into a cohesive, Christ-centered team. A close and focused team can do a lot to make a retreat, and I blame part of this one's success on just that. We had a variety of perspectives, spiritualities, and personalities -- one that served the new students' various perspectives, spiritualities, and personalities very well. This year also marked the first time we had a priest assigned to CCM and thus on the retreat for more than a closing Mass.

The retreat itself flowed smoothly. The class of '14 (plus the transfers I've met this year!) is pretty much amazing. And they love to sing. We sang more on this retreat than we had planned and people kept requesting more songs! It warmed my heart, especially because our music minister on the retreat has a gift for that type of music. Plus, he chose songs that have significance in my life, which made me enjoy them all the more.

Friday night we had a bonfire, and, as I walked out to the fire circle, I looked up and saw the Milky Way. On Freshmen Retreat #1, I spent a good chunk of campfire time looking up at the stars and talking philosophy with one boy. This time, I stood by the bonfire with a few team members as the participants headed inside for an epic game of telephone pictionary. Campfires make for good conversation, especially with amazing people. And we saw a few shooting stars.