Blessings Retreat...

Middle school years are hard.

It is that peculiar time between childhood and adulthood.

When awkwardness abounds...change happens...and control seems lost.

It is hard.

Thankfully, we have a "pre-teen" class at our church.

So instead of rushing them into middle school as soon as they are in sixth grade...

they use that year to build intentional relationships.

To lay out expectations of what the years ahead will be like.

To grow them.

To challenge them.

To love on them.

The culmination of this year is the Blessings Retreat.

A weekend away with Mom and Dad for the sole purpose of blessing our pre-teen.

We spent quite a lot of time planning out our special gift we would give her on the last evening together.

We settled on a blessing box that was filled with "open when" letters.

We spent the drive up to the mountains talking about our own pre-teen years.

Amy had questions about our most embarrassing moment...relationships...challenges...etc.

We had a scavenger hunt... 

and then a very LONG hike up the mountain...

After the hike the girls were rewarded with s'mores and smiles!

That evening we played some fun games...most of which had hidden meanings.

This one in particular...Amy was supposed to try and match whatever pattern of blocks Jason did but without being able to talk to each other.

The message was clear...our effectiveness in parenting is more in modeling and patterning a life of godly living more than it is to be about "telling" them how to live. 

The final event of the weekend was the blessing.

Jason and I both wrote out a blessing for Amy that we read over her. 

We washed her feet and confessed our shortcomings as parents and asked for forgiveness.

Then we gave her our present for her and blessed her.

It was absolutely beautiful...a night we will remember for years to come.

We are so thankful for our precious daughter...who is a pre-teen...and hopefully this year was a made a bit easier by all of those that have loved on her and blessed her!