Insights

Retreat. Man, what a year to have a retreat.

After missing retreat last year, we ventured to Carolina Creek this past weekend for our annual Secondary Student Retreat. With discipleship being our core value of the year, we spent the weekend talking about just that...discipleship. The main thing we wanted our students to come away from retreat with was the fact that they can do hard things!

Being a disciple and a learner is hard. It is hard in life. It is hard in school. Being a disciple and a learner of Jesus, the Lamb of God, is even harder. That being said...we are called to be  disciples, followers, and learners of Jesus Christ.

When we look at the calling of the disciples in the gospels, Jesus called them to something hard. He pretty much said, “Hey you, leave everything and follow me. Yes, even that thing, leave it behind.” Jesus’ call to us hasn’t changed. He calls us to leave everything and follow Him. That is a hard thing. 

Every day we are called to look at the things in our life (actions, thoughts, etc.) and ask ourselves, “Is this thing like Jesus?” and if it’s not, we are called to let it go. That’s where this gets hard for us. Over the weekend our students were pointed toward the idea of accountability and doing hard things together. Not only did the disciples have Jesus, but they had each other to walk through their days with. When Jesus made those statements that were hard or a little confusing they were able to work through them together as they all worked to be more like their rabbi, their teacher, Jesus.

As parents, it is our responsibility to set this example. May we, every day, strive to lay aside the things that are not of Jesus. May our lives be defined by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Our kids are watching.

Joel Gutowsky
Director of Student Life
Logos Preparatory Academy