MLI retreat #4 (pt. 1)

I am sitting in my room on break during the Missional Leadership Initiative retreat. This is the 4th 3-day retreat we've had. So far they have all been at the lovely Salt Fork State Park lodge. I am once again rooming with Tom (room 217). He's sitting on his bed on his computer too.

Tom and I rode over with Steve yesterday. Tom was supposed to drive, but it was snowing like crazy when we left, so Steve offered to drive his 4-wheel drive (I didn't care who drove as long as it wasn't me). They picked me up at 7 am, but we had to go back to Zanesville because Tom forgot his glasses. So we probably left around 7:15 or so, and drove through snow about half the way. We stopped once for coffee and a potty break, and then got gas when we got off the interstate. We arrived just before noon.

The retreat started with lunch on Monday. The food is always one of the better parts of these retreats. I need to learn to take smaller portions though. And the service is always superb here.

At the end of the first day I spent some time with Eddie, then went to bed around 11 or 11:30. I slept fairly good. Probably because I brought a humidifier with me. I don't care if people think I'm crazy - it helps me breathe better and I'm glad I brought it. It also kept Tom from having to listen to me snore (too much).

So far it's been pretty good, though I was kind of tired this afternoon. I was surprised I wasn't more tired than I was yesterday afternoon. I think I kind of liked just driving out on Monday instead of coming out the night before. I also liked that we had lunch in our cohorts today. I don't think we've done that before. Though I like that tonight we have a cross-cohort exercise. So far I have liked the cohort exercises, and I look forward to doing them with our group at church when we start meeting together again.

Some other things I've liked so far:

• I liked having to think back to when I first realized I was a leader.
• I liked having to think about my 'original dream.'
• I liked the exercise where we had to articulate our life mission & call, and then answer: "In order to fulfill my mission I need to: stop..., start..., and continue..."
• I liked the devotion to start us out today, about the guy who moved his family to an apartment building; and then the question... "What breaks your heart?"

I will likely post my notes about this eventually. This is the schedule for this retreat:

Monday, January 24
Noon - lunch
1:00 - Opening/Devotional/Fast-Fire Updates
2:30 - Break
2:45 - Personal Mission and Call
4:00 - Afternoon Break
6:30 - Dinner
7:30 - Cohort Exercise

Tuesday, January 25
8:00 - Breakfast
9:00 - Devotion and Debrief
9:30 - Creating a Leadership Learning Path
10:30 - Break
10:45 - Personal Learning Path Exercise
Noon - Lunch (sit by cohort to debrief - note the longer lunch break)
1:30 - Creating a Congregational Leadership Community
3:00 - Afternoon Break
6:30 - Dinner
7:30 - Cross-Cohort Exercise

Wednesday, January 26
8:00 - Breakfast
9:00 - Devotion and Prayer Time
9:15 - Reports from Cross-Cohort Exercise
10:00 - Debrief in Cohorts
10:15 - Break
10:30 - Pulling It Together
11:30 - Wrap-Up
Noon - Lunch and Depart

There ya go... more to come later (hopefully). Now I can't decide whether to take a nap or take a walk.

Peace out; and in.