Life Savior

ROCK retreat was splendid. I am immensely glad that I decided to attend after all. Maybe I should just go against my initial decisions from now on, seeing as how this one and all previous ones turned out quite well in this manner.

I miss it already. It was so different from last year's and so much better, not that last year's was not good. Even though we didn't have foosball or pool or air hockey or anything, we made the best of what we had: Scrabble, Monopoly, Apples to Apples, mah jong kit, and each other! And, of course, God. So here's my not-so-brief rehash of one my wonderful weekend.

On Friday, I arrived at church with an unbelievably bloated, pained stomach for no reason at all! I took two Tylenol pills and started feeling a bit better about two hours later. As for the departure bus... Well, there was none because there was a misunderstanding regarding it. But that turned out for the better, because we got to ride in counselors' cars in smaller groups and bond that way as opposed to everybody being on the same big bus, pair by pair. W, S, K and I ended up in San's car. There was so much traffic the whole way through because it was near rush hour time and there was a brush fire in Calgrove or something. So what was supposed to be a forty minute car ride ended up taking two hours, if not longer. But good thing we were with who we were with, or else the ride would have been devastatingly boring. Around 5:30, we finally arrived, already half an hour late for dinner (yes, dinner at 5 p.m.). We began to transport everybody's luggage inside the dorm, Sweazy (easily confused for "sweaty" or "sleazy") Hall. And upon everybody's arrival, we went to dinner. Thank goodness! I was so hungry.

Dinner was acceptable. Not exceptional, but acceptable. In any case, it was good, healthy food, notwithstanding the drink mix I concocted (fruit punch slushie and passion-guava juice), haha. After dinner, we had worship/ testimony. Christiana played guitar and we sang along for three songs. Then Tony gave his testimony and showed two powerful videos to demonstrate it.

Next, we had free time until bedtime, which was expectedly late. I really don't even remember what I did until 1:15 a.m., which was when I was brushing my teeth. W, K and I talked in our room until around two, when K fell asleep. I couldn't fall asleep until almost daybreak, and I woke up at 7:07 because the other girls were making such ruckus! I mean, just because breakfast starts at eight doesn't mean everybody has to wake up so darn early! But it's okay. We locked the door for a good reason. Haha.

So on Saturday, we had breakfast. Then we went to the classroom, where Christiana again led worship and then Curtis and Jeff presented their testimonies. C told us about the stage of his relationship with his girlfriend when he began to question whether or not he could be with somebody who wasn't Christian too, who didn't have the same value system as him. And he prayed about it, and one day, she just started wondering about the whole system. Now she leads a fellowship at UCSF, and they have been together for five years. I think what I liked most about that one was the transition she went through over time. As for J, what was most outstanding to me was when he said that everybody experiences bad things every once in a while, whether or not you pray. And then we separated into small groups to discuss the testimonies and to discuss PURPOSE, which shall be elaborated later on.

I must point out that I truly appreciate small group time, because that's when I feel most comfortable to speak out and share, and it's quite evident that the same goes for most other people, as well.

Then we had lunch at noon (yes, only four hours after breakfast), followed by recreation and free time--in other words, playtime. Water balloons, hoses, muddy shoes, buckets of water, running, screaming; Scrabble tiles, mah jong tiles, playing cards, truths, dares abound. It was fun.

Again, we had dinner at 5 p.m., after which we had more free time. During that, San taught several girls, including myself, how to swim. I learned not only how to swim basically, but also how to not be afraid. I learned that the most important step is to just do it. Only then can you discover and absorb the depth and the concept of the lesson given. Until 7:25, I just kept practicing, swimming from one side of the 3-feet side of the pool to the other. Now, I only wish I had a pool to continue practicing. But oh, well. In any case, I was so happy and JOYFUL that San had the patience and kindness to teach everybody how to swim, even though he probably wanted to do this own thing on the deep end of the swimming pool during those hours. He could have done that. But he taught others instead. I appreciated that more than anything, really. So thanks again, San!

At 8:30, we headed back to the classroom, where Danny first led worship, then Vay presented his testimony. I think everybody expected an elaborate lecture from the "Grandmaster Vay Ho", but what everybody got was a surprise. It was a surprise to me, anyway. He talked about Steven Ly, whose death four years ago made him question God and his ways. V and S had been good friends since they met when they were in 9th and 7th grades, respectively. They began to play basketball together; S was terrible, but he had heart and drive and passion to be the best he could possibly be. With practice and time, he became one of the best basketball players at Bravo High School. On top of that, he was already one of the best people many people knew: he grew up with nothing much but made everything of it and never complained about anything. When V was a sophomore in college, S contacted him one day, after they hadn't communicated for about eight months. They talked about S's plans, and V asked him what his purpose of life would be if he got into a car accident and died the next day. They talked about God for eight hours, and then S went home, feeling so happy from the talk they had had. Much to everybody's surprise, he did get into a car accident two weeks later. He pushed somebody away to save her, risked and gave up his own life when the car hit him instead. After that occurred a long series of other events, but to cut the long, long story a bit shorter, V grieved with S's mother while questioning why. But things turned out well after all. She was diagnosed with breast cancer a year or two after the death but still turned out to be joyful, happy for everything she still has. He is a ROCK counselor whose joy comes from our seeking and asking and eventual finding. And Steven has left a legacy at his high school and in his community. In fact, I looked at his MySpace page earlier and saw that people still talk to him through there.

That testimony ended with a question to us: what would be your purpose in life if you knew you were going to die tomorrow?

In that hour or so, I learned why purpose is so significant to V and why purpose should be so important to each of us. Because you never know. Because, as J stated, anything could happen to anyone.

And then we discussed all this in small groups. Discussion and small groups mix very well.

Last night, I slept at 2:30 because I was up until almost two talking with V and T about the story and about the retreat thus far. It was so nice to just sit outside on a warm (notwithstanding the cool breezes) summer night, talking. Nothing better to stay up for, I think.

This morning, I woke up at 7:33, surprised that nobody had pounded on our door or yelled anything from down the hallway. We had breakfast, then worship led by Kevin, after which John gave his Sunday sermon/ message, during which many of us couldn't help but fall asleep. I am glad to say that I stayed awake, though. He essentially wrapped everything up into one message and explained the theme of our retreat: life savior/ life saver. He also revealed that when he first began going to church, it was just for the punch and doughnuts. That also went for a few of the other counselors, which is kind of a good thing to know, so that, in a way, some of the current "non-believers" don't have to feel bad for going to ROCK just for the heck of it.

Then we had small group discussion again, where we shared about times when we thought we had an "intersection" with God. Again, it's always interesting and good to hear what others have to say and share. You can learn so much about each other that way.

The rest of the day was just packing and lunch and more free time until we left at 2:30. I was actually sad to leave, wishing that retreat would last more than one weekend but acknowledging how long the one weekend felt like.

When it was almost four, we got back to Chinatown. I went to N's, from which we departed for the Santa Anita mall to buy books from Borders (40% off coupons for the win) and miscellaneous items elsewhere (including Walmart in Rosemead). Then we did our long-awaited dinner at Hanashima, after which I finally came back home.

Then I showered and put my things away and did laundry. Still doing laundry now, really. I should sleep soon, though, because I have work tomorrow, which I am not looking forward to at all. I mean, who wants to go back to work after such a relaxing (despite the shortage of sleep) weekend? Certainly not I!

Oh, and I used full first names as opposed to the usual first initials in this post just because I felt that it would be important to indicate some of who's who in this weekend's events.

I told you this account would not be brief!