Winter Retreat was awesome, and God is amazing!!! Well, now you know what I thought of Winter Retreat, I shall introduce myself. My name is David Chen, but you probably know me as Chenny. I go to ACCC and I am part of Cobb Homegroup.

      For Winter Retreat this year, I really wasn’t expecting too much out of it, mainly because I am like a “retreat veteran.” I was just planning to spend three days playing some mad tackle football, mooning some people, and doing something stupid during the skits. Don’t get me wrong, I did do all that, but I also got much more out of it too.

      Every year everyone always gets that spiritual high after retreats; you get the feeling that you will do anything for God, and then you always promise yourself that you will read the bible everyday, and how you will be a good boy and never stray. For me, I lose that feeling like two weeks later once school starts or once I start becoming a couch potato again. So personally, I was just expecting that same thing this year, I just had my mind set that I would not even start the spiritual high, because I would lose it anyways. But this year Thomas pointed out something that was so obvious, it made me feel stupid. He said that the reason we stray from God is because of our surroundings, the way we behave, the friends we have, the music we listen to, and the way we set our priorities. This started to get me thinking as to what I do that makes me stray from God.

      Everyone deals with temptations and sin, and after a while, you just start telling yourself that it is ok to lie, it is ok to not read the bible for a few nights, it is ok to copy someone else’s work, it is ok to say a bad word now and then, well, you get my drift. But every act of sin that we do gets us farther away from God, not because he is leaving us, but we are leaving him. But being the amazing father he is, God forgives us before we even do it, and he will never leave us. God is there in the darkest times in your life, when it seems that no one is there, God is already by your side. Knowing this is truly a great feeling, and a feeling that I want to keep, but like most things, it is easier said than done.

      Both Thomas and my counselors (Steve and Roger) mentioned that it is good to have an accountability partner to keep you accountable with your actions. Having an accountability partner will show you many aspects of trust and love, and an accountability partner is a very helpful way to keep a good relationship with God. So I recommend that everyone get an accountability partner, because it is just amazing how helpful one can be, and how incredible of a friendship you build up with your partner and with God(and I would like to thank my accountability partner, you truly are a blessing and you help a lot). Well…. That is just about what I have to say so here is a bible verse that gives me a lot of help when times are bad..

      Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up -Galatians 6:9.

“God is good, all the time; All the Time, God is good” - Jason Tsai