Something I Wrote About Our Class Retreat

Mode: Reminiscing
Currently listening to: Full Circle - Miley Cyrus

I. Personal Faith Experience

I was excited to go to the retreat to the point that I had a little leftover of my lunch at school. When we were in the bus and asked to watch the documentary, I was bored so I watched only the first parts and the last parts. In between, I was either talking to my classmates or looking outside the window. When we got to the place, I was mostly excited to see our Dorm (A). It wasn't exactly what I thought it looked like but I thanked God that I was in that dorm and not anywhere else.

Our class had a recollection in a glass room. It was really awesome. Our first activity was to imitate an animal as a group. Our group chose to be a penguin. Then we had our merienda. We had toron and other snacks from us. It was satisfying. Then we started with our real activity. We got our malong and our coloring materials with the drawing book. We read stories through the PowerPoint. During the reading of the stories, I came to appreciate the galaxies, the sun, the planets, the moons and stars more than I did before since it was explained to us how God created them. We did two stories then we had dinner. After dinner, we gazed at the stars. We were divided in groups. In the group that I was in, we talked about things. After the star gazing, we did the third story and gave a star and a rose to anyone who we wanted to give it. In my part, I have to say that I was pretty much surprised to those who gave their star and rose to me. I didn’t expect any from them. I was only expecting to receive from Belay since we exchanged stars and roses. Then we had our midnight snack. I didn't eat because I was full already from dinner. The most unforgettable story that I heard was "The Four Candles". It was amazing on how it was animated. Then we went to our dorms and slept. We didn't actually sleep at once since we had to pray the rosary first. After we prayed the rosary, I tried to sleep already because if don't sleep at least seven hours, I'll get sick the next day. We finished the rosary at 12am. I wasn't able to sleep well since some of my classmates were still talking and chatting. I didn't sleep in straight hours because of the noise. I wake up at 5am then after 5 minutes, I took a bath. It took me about 15 to 20 minutes to take a bath since I was still sleepy. The cold water gave me little energy to get the day started. I was able to walk around with my friends and took a couple of pictures. Then we had breakfast. Considering that I was still really sleepy that morning, I only ate about five spoonfuls of rice with eggs. I didn't finish my champorado because I didn't feel like eating it. I wasn't able to make milo because I felt lazy to make one. Then we head back to the glass room and listened to the fourth and final story. Then we made our last and biggest mandala. During the story telling, I was sleepy to the point that I closed my eyes and slept for minutes. I wasn't able to understand the story much. I made an extra mandala so I can make a star when I put all my mandalas together. It was amazing. I finished it early. Then we had recess. We had kutsinta. I didn't finish my last piece of kutsinta because I accompanied Mrs. Garcia to by food souvenir. Then we went back inside the glass room and had our last activity: the Mass. I didn't have much energy to sing and respond. To be honest, I took a sleep during the Homily. I prayed to God after the mass and said sorry for not participating in the Mass.

When everything was over, we went outside to relax. We took some wonderful pictures with our classmates while we were outside. I had attempts in injecting my Flash drive in the laptop that was left on the table on the corner and play some music since my friends and I were bored since we had nothing else to do but to wait for the signal to go in the bus. My conscience got into me and decided to do other things for fun. When we got in the bus, the first thing that I did was to go to sleep. So I did until we reached STC gate 2. As soon as we got there I already took a tricycle and went home so I can go to sleep in a place more comfortable.

II. Insights

The documentary about the animals was boring. The place was awesome and definitely all about nature since there were plants all over. The stories were good to reflect on. It wasn't too hot or too cold. I reflected much to the stories and was able to see that God is indeed powerful. He created all things well and saw that it was good especially the human beings. Based on my experience, I didn't lose hope in having a great time even though I was sleepy in the end. About the Four Candles, I realized through the story that the world can lose love, peace, and faith but should always have hope left in them. There is always hope in being a star to everyone. In the stories, I came to appreciate other God's creations that are located far away from the Earth.

Something I Wrote in One of My Reflections

Mode: Reminiscing
Currently listening to: Burnin' Up - Jonas Brothers

GOD, SPOTTED IN MY LIFE!!!
God has been with me until right now, as I am writing, through my parents. They tell me to be a good girl all the time by advising me not to say bad words and to finish all my homework now so I will free time tomorrow, Tuesday. I know that God is here today through my friends who put me on the right track just like my parents.

God can be anything and anybody in my daily life which and who guides me through life. He could be my parents who give and tell what's best for me. He could be my brother who always keeps me company when mom and dad are at work. He could be one of my best friends who makes me laugh and happy. He could be one of my best friends who tell me to be myself all the time and to control myself just in case I get talkative.

God can be some things and persons that make my day wonderful. He could be my alarm clock which wakes me up in the morning. He could be the hot water that I put into my Milo every morning to remind me to straighten up and get ready for school. He could be my tricycle driver who drives me to and from school so I can be safe. He could be the traffic enforcer who makes sure that I cross the street safely. He could be my one of my classmates who greets me in the morning so I start the day happily. He could be the warning bell at school which reminds everyone that it's almost recess, lunch, or dismissal; or it's time to line up and get ready for the next subject. He could be one of my teachers who teach me on how to become a good follower of Jesus. He could be the cockroach inside our classroom which reminds us to clean our room because it is already dirty. He could be the key of our room which will guard our room so no one can steal stuff from us while we are gone.

God can be in any form of safety and healthy gear. He could be Mrs. Sacdalan who reminds us to discipline ourselves so we get out of trouble. He could be the manongs and manangs who serve us food in the cafeteria and make sure that what we eat is healthy and safe. He could be the water in my water jug which refreshes me after P.E. classes, after I eat recess and lunch, and when I am just plane thirsty. He could be the food I eat everyday which energizes me to do activities.

God can be any of my school materials that help me in school works. He could be my pen which I use to write creative essays, poems, themes, and notes. He could be my reviewer or my notes which help me prepare for tomorrow's tests. He could be my school books which helps me in studying the lessons at school. He could be my guardian angel who secretly tells me the answers to the questions in the exams and quizzes so won't have the reason to cheat.

God could be anything that comforts me. He could be the trees which shades us from the too much warmness of the sun. He could be my umbrella which protects me from the rain. He could be my jacket which makes me warm when I am cold. He could be the electric fan which cools me down when I am burning up in sweat. He could be any of the benches which I sit on so I can rest my feet when I am tired. He could be my wallet which is the place where I put my money in and something that I bring with me so it would be safe. He could be my house where I eat, clean, and sleep with my family. He could be one of the people or persons who give me criticisms and tells me that I still have things to change so I can be a better person. He could be the sun after the rain which symbolizes that there is hope in everything.

God can be anything that makes me enjoy life. He could be one of the members of my favorite boy band who entertains me and relaxes me. He could be the one of the reporters and writers of the newspaper who keeps me updated in what's happening around me. God remains present in my life as I go through life everyday. I believe that He is with me all the time even though I don't see Him.