"Wait, what's the number for 9-1-1?"

One of the amazing opportunities I have here at school is to help lead youth retreats. Weekend retreats, one-night events, lock-ins, etc. My ministry team and I do them all. This weekend we helped lead a youth ski trip. Can you say fun?!

Here are some highlights:

• Using an ironing board as a sled...
• The Oreo Olympics: What started as a game to get a half-an-Oreo from the forehead to the mouth sans hands turned into "If I flip this whole Oreo from one shoulder to the other shoulder before kicking it, will you catch it in your mouth?"
• "Patrick, I could hearing you giggling in my bed," complained a female adult chaperone. Please, let's all enjoy her misplaced modifier... and then we'll adjust the sentence to say, "From my bed I could hear you laughing, Patrick!"
• I was the only one sitting at the kitchen table in our house. Please note this kitchen table seats at least ten people and all of the other seats were unoccupied. A girl came into the house to dodge a snowball. Well, she was successful... I was not. The snowball hit one chair and one chair only: mine.
• Kevin and Jeanie had never skied before. Brad and I are intermediate skiers. Somehow the two newbies ended up on the lift together while Brad and I were in the next chair. Acrophobia Kevin screamed the whole way!
• [Quite possibly my favorite] We were playing a game called "Body Parts" where two partners are separated and have to run to each other and touch the called body parts. For example, if the caller says, "Nose to toes," partner one's nose goes to partner two's toes. I took full advantage of my role as caller by saying things like, "tongue to ear" but then I got bored and began to take requests. Somewhere in the game bones started appearing, and "That is not your femur." The very last call wasn't mine but someone screamed, "Cranium to femur." Well, the cranium missed...

However, it wasn't about skumping (aka "skiing the humps"... also known as "monguls" or "moguls"). It wasn't about making sure we had enough bananas just in case monkeys attacked in the middle of the night. It wasn't about who can force-feed his partner a cup of soda and blow pop the fastest (without spilling or, worse, puking).

As we were driving back this afternoon, we took a twenty-minute prayer break. No iPods, no books, no conversations, no music, nothing.

I looked out of the bus, noticing the stunning mountains, and started my prayer. Except that'll have to be a different blog! This is me resisting the urge to say "Sundays don't count in Lent" and update again. See you Tuesday!

<>< Katie
PS: If you can tell me what skit the title of this post is from you win fifty-points.