The Story

Jacob hadn’t been very kind to his brother Esau, and was running away to avoid being killed.  He had to travel 400 miles to Haran to stay with his uncle.  He was in a time of great turmoil, and we may appreciate that when things are difficult for us, the burden lies heavily on our conscience.  We can have funny dreams at these times.

Angels

One of our discussion points was about angels.  Jacob saw angels going up and down a stairway, or ladder, and we thought about what that meant.  We discussed how angels are people who have died and don’t actually have wings in the spiritual world.  They are often pictured like this because they can move very quickly from one place to another.  Angels with wings, like cherubim and seraphim, are protecting the truths we read in the Word.

We discovered that we are all angels in training!  Each person cut out an “angel” and wrote their name on it.  Over the course of the weekend, we wrote angelic qualities on each other’s angels – qualities that we could see in that person.

Group Time!

After a break, we split into two groups.  The younger people went downstairs and made various ladders and stairways with angels going up and down on them.  Both groups did some stone painting, thinking about Bible quotes and angelic qualities that we hold dear.

The older group stayed in the upstairs room and had a further discussion on the passage from Genesis.

Stones

In the story we heard that Jacob laid his head on a stone when he went to sleep.  We thought about how the stones represent foundational truths, especially the simple or basic truths found in the Bible.  He was relying on the simple, outward truths of the Word during this time of change and uncertainty.

Awe

One of the quotes we discussed was “When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.””

We were thinking about how we can experience the Lord in many places, not just in church buildings, and at that moment a beautiful red kite appeared outside of the window.  It felt like a message from the Lord – He was showing us the wonder of His creation.

Brimham Rocks

After a delicious lunch, we travelled to Brimham Rocks.  It was wonderful to have a place of amazing stones to help illuminate the story we had heard in the morning!

The young people had a great time exploring and climbing the rocks.  The views from the top really do inspire awe – “Surely the Lord is in this place”!

Evening Walk

After our evening meal, we walked down to Thruscross Reservoir.  It is only “a stone’s throw” (sorry!) from the bunkhouse, and it was a beautiful evening.  Those of us who are bird enthusiasts (no-one under 40) were delighted to see as well as hear lapwings and curlews.  There were also oyster catchers, sandpipers and ringed plovers.  The serenity of the setting was balm to the soul.  The younger people enjoyed a stone-skimming competition – eight bounces was apparently the highest that could be achieved.

It wasn’t long before we were all tucked up in bed for the evening.

Read more about our adventures in the next blog!

And, if you would like to come on a Family Weekend, find details here.