Preparation

"So many things to prepare, so little time..."

That has been the mentality for most of the last year as I and the team have undergone the preparation process for the first annual retreat. Choosing songs for the worship CD, tracking down the least expensive vendors for taper candles, t-shirt printers, and copies of How to Find Your Soulmate Without Losing Your Soul, purchasing countless mason jars and LED artificial candles, choosing and then refining what content will be covered, exploring fundraising options, scoring our collective contacts to try and nail down a worship team, and promoting and recruiting girls to attend the retreat name just a couple handfuls of what we've been up to. 

When I first started planning, one of the first decisions I made was regarding the location. Being someone who has only ever been part of the team preparing a retreat - not the director overseeing everything - I didn't have a mental file-folder of contacts and go-to locations, and so I started where I imagine most people in my position would: what you know, and what your friends know. I looked into Camp Stella Maris in Livonia (where I had attended 11 retreats throughout high school and my first year of college) and Notre Dame Retreat House in Canandaigua, however neither location was anywhere near the price I dreamt of charging for the retreat. Upon my friend Lexi's suggestion, I looked into Bliss Summit Bible Camp in Bliss, and that's the location we settled on.

I visited Bliss for the first time this past January, and my inner interior designer went to work brainstorming how to transform the cabin-y chapel into the heart of Worthy 2013. I found DIY wall hangings on Pinterest to brighten up one wall, six inspirational quotes that I then framed to be displayed on the two windowsills, and decided to utilize the expansive back wall for the affirmation bags and prayer wall. Once satisfied with the chapel, I focused my energy on the other room of the main building at Bliss - what would become the prayer room. Already exuding a calm and restful energy with its natural shadows expanding from the wall of windows and lack of furniture or technology, I envisioned lots of comfy pillows around the perimeter of the room, soft music playing in the background, and a few flickering candles (artificial, of course!). Later on I had the idea of displaying a picture and short testimony of each leader, and the prayer room was complete.

After the location was nailed down, I turned to content. I skimmed the pages of my worn copy of How to Find Your Soulmate Without Losing Your Soul countless times, reading each highlighted section and note scrawled in the margin. I developed a list of main ideas, and gradually created seven talk topics, with a certain focus for each day.

Day One: What makes us feel unworthy?
Session One: The Media's Affect on Our Sense of Self
Session Two: A Father's Love, Developing Healthy Self-Love, and Finding Fulfillment in God

Day Two: Our Worthiness Comes From Within
Session Three: Identity in God
Session Four: Chastity and Modesty
Session Five: Facing Our Fears, Embracing Our Worth - Dispelling the Lies We Believe

Day Three: Embracing Our Worthiness
Session Six: Making Our Relationships Speak of Our Worth
Session Seven: A Called Generation