Help us lead students at Youth Winter Retreat in thankfulness and contentment.
The theme we have chosen for this year’s Winter Retreat is on the biblical exhortation for us to be thankful and contentment in all things. We believe this is a big issue for all believers – but especially for our teens who are growing up in what is being called the richest and most entitled area of our country.
Here is the opportunity and need
We are asking God to give us 250 individuals who will write a short note we are calling this the “Gift of Thankfulness.” Below is a brief summary of the what the “Gift of Thankfulness” involves.
First, you need to think of one thing/event/person that has happened in your life that you can praise God for because of its significance in your life. Then write a paragraph or two about it, explaining what happened, how it has affected your life, and why you thank God for it. It can be good thing or even a hard thing that led to a blessing in your life later. It will be given to a student at the Winter Retreat (junior or senior high).
Second, we would then ask for you to think of a small “token” that you can include with it to help them remember it. Let me give you an example. When I (Bob) failed first grade – it just so happened that my mom had been trained in college on how to do educational evaluations for children. She was able to diagnose long before it before it was widely talked about that I had dyslexia. That changed the direction of my education plan and has had a drastic impact on my whole life. For a token – I could use a picture of my mom, a small ABC block, or a small simple magnifying tool – and relate that God used my mom to help me see as I should!
Third, we need you to get this to us by our February 2 deadline. You can bring it to the church on Sunday or during the week. We would love for you to use a simple soap box container (i.e. Dove soap bar) and put both your note and token inside. You can also put it in an envelope to turn it in. We recommend just using first names in your note when talking about yourself or those you share about but we would need you to put your full name on the envelope/box so we know who it is from and confirm we received it.
If you willing to take this on – then please use this link to let us know. It will ask you for a few things to help us know you have chosen to do it and for us to be able to communicate with you on this.
I have attached a complete explanation of the “Gift of Thankfulness” that we would like you to print and use to complete project.
Click here to participateThis may seem small – but this generation loves to hear about real things from real people. Your genuine offering of thankfulness, we believe, can help our teens begin to see life differently and help them offer up their own “gift of thankfulness” at the retreat and beyond.