Austrian Alps Retreat

Trip Start Aug 31, 2008
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4
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Trip End Dec 08, 2008


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Where I stayed
Schwarzwaldeck House
(Schwarzenberg hotels)

Flag of Austria  , Austrian Alps,
Sunday, September 28, 2008

On Friday, September 26, we took a retreat to the Austrian Alps. The church here owns a house up in the mountains. It was an hour and a half bus ride and then about a 45 minute hike up to the house. It was really foggy on the hike up, so we couldn't get much of a view. Cameron, Gary, Autumn, and I took a walk along the cliffside on Friday night and the fog was rolling off of the mountains. It was beautiful. Later Friday night, we had a group devotional. Our sponser, Keith, talked about God resting after creating the Earth. He mentioned how God is often not thought of as a God that rests. We discussed that in order for us to strive to be more like God, we too need to rest and pause from our busy lives. Not just this weekend, but this trip in general has allowed me to have a slower paced life and enjoy things more. Without a job and extracurricular activities, there is so much more time to have conversations, spend time with others, take a walk, and just appreciate God's creation. I have really enjoyed it and think that adjusting back to a busier life second semester will be difficult. We did a lot of singing on Friday night too. With all of us packed in a little room in the house, the singing sounded beautiful.

On Saturday, I slept in late because it was foggy again and then got up and hiked over to the same cliff that we walked to the night before. It was nice to just go out by myself and spend some time sitting in peace and quiet. Later on, we made cookies and popcorn and played cards. Saturday night we had a devotional around the campfire.

Sunday morning I woke up and the fog was finally gone! It was sunny and beautiful outside, so we had church on the deck. While we were singing, some hikers walked past and just stopped and listened to us. It was kind of neat that they paused even if they didn't know English or know what we were singing. After church, Liz, Emily, and I walked out to the cliffside one last time and got some more pictures while the sun was shining. The bus came at 2 and took us back to the castle.
I never thought that I would be in the Austrian Alps..it's so amazing the places God takes us.
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