above
two weeks ago, we were able to go to our church’s retreat which was held at the beautiful pepperdine campus. the theme of the retreat was “above” which was based on colossians 3:1-2 and the speaker was none other than nam park! it was really fun to see him and his family again and to hear some classic “nam” stories- including the infamous cheese toast incident. which of course, our church milked to death over the rest of the retreat. you know, nam was the speaker at the first retreat i went to with vkcc’s college group. it was kinda cool that he was the speaker at this retreat too- the first one phil and i have been to since being married!
we had a great time and although we did come back physically tired, we did feel spiritually refreshed.
anyway, i was unfortunately not able to take many pictures during most of the retreat– trying to get all the kids to their respective classes somewhat on time and then trying to keep an eye on all of them while they were with us took most of my energy and attention. but, here are a few that i do have to share!
sunday (our last day there), we had our service in the campus chapel, which was beautiful with natural wood architecture and this large stained glass window taking up most of the front wall.
all the kids came out to sing a special song they had been practicing. notice my girl allie and her little buddy in pink staring out at the audience while everyone else sang and did the hand motions. my boy mikey didn’t even make it on stage but instead chose to stand off to the side tightly hugging his bear and sucking his fingers. 
well, he was pretty tired and out-of-sorts that morning. but i’m still thinking that being up in front of an audience is not really his thing.
family pic in our matching retreat t-shirts. hmm, looks like ALL the kiddos were out-of-sorts by then…
we drove around the campus before heading home and discovered this little spot called the “heroes garden”.
this little stream ran from the fountain to the pool at the opposite end.
the kids thought the water looked especially inviting…
from our vantage point, we could see the campus and malibu beyond.
daddy and lauren.
my kiddos had dunked their legs into the water and both were pretty soaked by the time we left.
2 Comments
babymomof2
Great job to introduce your kids to God so early in age…I see your kids serving the Lord with so much love and fire for their heavenly Father….i’m always so amazed what great pictures you take…….what kind of camera do you use? And please tell me the secret to your crystal clear pictures…….i especially, love the shot of the glass inside the church…………WOW, talk about colors being vibrant…………..Allie, already going to love the stage…..maybe future Praise Leader?…and Mikey, hey thats okay too…….he could be molded into a future Pastor…..and little Lauren…God has something bigger and better for her………..i so miss churches like yours……..I LOVE FAMILY RETREATS..and this is the part of he military isn’t great….i miss an active church sooo bad….especially for our girls……..praying that one day, God will lead me to that perfect church our family will call home……I love the dedication on that stone..wow, powerful but a great reminder to the new world we have entered into…….sadly, it isn’t safe as it use to be……………..everytime we visit Malibu, always dying to see where the “stars” live………..BEAUTIFUL AND BREATHTAKING PICS ALWAYS………God is soo good to you guys!…….hopefully, we will get a chance to meet when i visit………….
mamajoyjoy
how fun! love the family pic. i haven’t been to a retreat for a few years. our current church does more of a camp-out type thing and i’m not ready to bring the little ones to that. hehe yes, i’m a wuss.