What a weekend! It's Tuesday, and I'm still processing everything that happened over the course of the fantastic 48-hour retreat that I got to experience with the rest of my friends and family from Amsterdam50...

We were blessed with mild, sunny weather -- the first true weekend of spring -- and an incredible venue for the retreat: Landgoed het Hunderen, an estate whose history stretches back to the 10th Century with a magnificent country mansion built in the early 1600s. Getting to experience such a weekend in such a setting was lovely in and of itself.

But the best thing about the weekend was that we got to experience it together as an extended spiritual family: seeking rest, reconnection, and spiritual renewal together as a church.

We bunked out in the country mansion and its carriage house (which have since been converted into large group accomodations). We ate meals together. We enjoyed times of Bible study, worship, and discussion. We played games together (including a two-and-a-half hour basketball marathon on Saturday afternoon). And we even got to celebrate two spontaneous baptisms, right in the old moat that encircled the estate!

It was definitely a weekend to remember. I didn't manage to take everyone's portrait, throughout the course of the weekend, but I'm deeply warmed to look at the faces of these men, women, boys, and girls who made my weekend -- and who make my daily life -- so rich and so meaningful.

In case you'd like to see more pictures from the Amsterdam50 Spring Retreat, you can view them through the Ministry Pictures section of this website, through my Flickr page, or through the Amsterdam50 Facebook Page.