Click here to view the photo slideshow from the MSIA Family Retreat at Lake Arrowhead 2005.
Little boys and little girls
are playing on the ground
changing all our rules around
to please them
– MSIA Song “Child’s Eyes”
What happens when you let children set the agenda for the group? At the 2005 MSIA Family Retreat the plans of facilitators, assistants and parents took a back seat to the enthusiasm of childhood. The beautiful woods of Lake Arrowhead came alive with the kinetic, joyful energy of children. The forest of pine and fir became an expanded playground for kids.
Under the watchful eye of their parents, the kids decided that an area of the mountainside between the sanctuary and the kitchen house would be their exclusive preserve. Spontaneously their open-air clubhouse was transformed into a bug museum.
The young ones went joyfully about the property catching bugs of different types and housing them in jars and paper cups in an ever-growing number. They put up signs advertising their collection, created an entrance and charged 25 cents for adults to visit the exhibit (children admitted free). Gabriel McMullen suggested a name and The Bug Club Resort was born. The kids ate many of their meals together at the Resort, and many even got up early in the morning to prepare and handle museum visitors. Every time a new bug (or lizard!) was caught, a wave of enthusiasm would sweep through the kids and more exhibit invitations would go out to the parents.
The adults soon got into the Spirit of the youngster’s passion. When Johnny Frey came up with a drawing of the bug club, assistants swung into action. David Sand photographed and scanned the drawing into his computer and researched vendors. Phone calls were made to printers and Ezra Mack, disk in hand, drove down the mountain. By the end of the weekend the kids all got lime green colored The Bug Club Resort t-shirts featuring Johnny’s drawing.
Of course the Family Retreat was about more than just bugs. It was a time for nurturing the family bonds and strengthening the loving that was already present. The theme of the weekend was “Treasuring Our Families” and that is just what happened. Facilitators Norm and Susan Frye led the group in structured activities which included creating Family Treasure Maps, incorporating things they treasure about their family as well as their prayers for their family, with kids delightedly cutting pictures from magazines and sharing pictures with other families.
The families, parents and children alike, loved anonymously writing out their gratitudes, challenges and prayers on colored 3×5 cards and placing them in “the God Basket.” The facilitators would randomly select cards and share some of them in the large group as part of placing their sharings in the Light. The kids often had great perspectives and wisdom to offer on dealing with parents’ challenges!
There was time for the moms and dads to have their own joint and separate activities while the children played outdoors under the watchful eyes of dedicated assistants. There was also plenty of time for families to explore the woods together. Alisha Hayes led the group in two sessions of her dance and movement exercises which the kids loved! For added fun, Norm introduced the kids to a new sport –
