Retreat Blogs

DAY 1 | Wednesday

 

What a day! After two exciting and joy-filled days back on campus—one Blue Day and one White Day—we knew it was time to press pause on the books and take our community to the mountains for something truly special. So this morning, the Upper School hit pause on our regular schedule and leaned into one of the most cherished traditions at North Cobb Christian School: our annual Upper School Retreat.

20 Years of Fall Retreat!

This year marks 20 years of the NCCS Upper School Retreat! What began in 2006 with three yellow school buses has now grown into a caravan of nine charter buses carrying nearly 500 students, faculty, and staff to Woodlands Camp in Cleveland, Georgia. What a testament to God’s faithfulness over two decades of discipling the next generation!

We kicked off the day with a slower morning thanks to our first “Take One Wednesday” of the year. Students arrived ready for the journey—lugging sleeping bags, suitcases, and plenty of anticipation. As soon as we pulled into Woodlands, students spilled out into six cabins and quickly got to work claiming bunks. These cabin arrangements are intentionally built around our small groups, which are formed by grade and gender and designed to grow together over the course of high school.

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Small Groups

Small Groups are a cornerstone of life in the Upper School. These aren’t just cabin mates or discussion groups—they're spaces for spiritual formation, friendship, growth, lots of laughter, and a lot of snacks! Students met with their groups earlier this week, and it’s already clear these connections are off to a strong start.

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LUNCH + ACTIVITIES

Lunch came just in time with crowd-pleasers like chicken tenders, mac and cheese, grapes, and Rice Krispie treats. Adding to the fun? Some of the amazing Woodlands staff this week are NCCS alumni and alumni parents—a powerful reminder that being an Eagle means joining and remaining part of a special community.

After lunch, we headed to the worship center for Mr. Gnann to kick off our free time with some cool cabin war games. Each person was given a beaded necklace, which set off a camp-wide paper, rock, scissors battle. If you lost the PRS battle, you had to give your necklace to the other person. Before long, we had kids who had won over 100 necklaces—and then the ultimate winner got all the necklaces. It was hilarious! After that, we gathered in our small groups to sign up for evening games and then went on a campus-wide scavenger hunt. That led us right into free time activities.

The afternoon is structured intentionally with a Small Group touchpoint before heading into free time to ensure that all of the new students know at least a handful of people. Free time at Woodlands is pretty unforgettable! Within moments of being released, kids were doing water sports in the lake, ziplining, hanging in the coffee shop, playing ping pong, enjoying the swings, racing on the water slides, and playing ultimate frisbee on the fields. Over the course of a couple of hours, it was such a joy for us to see kids playing outside and enjoying each other’s company. Several kids brought fishing poles… and it’s probably worth mentioning that the 9th and 10th grade girls ran away with today’s fishing rodeo. The boys are regrouping for tomorrow! Free time wrapped up around 5 p.m., just in time for showers and getting cleaned up for Hawaiian Night and dinner.

 

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Hawaiian Night

After a fun afternoon, everyone cleaned up for Hawaiian Night and gathered for dinner: meatballs, carrots, mashed potatoes, and the most amazing blueberry peach cobbler. (Two high school boys insisted it was the best dessert they’d ever had—so naturally, I had to try it!) The volleyball team cleaned up dinner with joy and laughter, following the football team’s leadership after lunch. We love seeing our students serve one another with enthusiasm.

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Worship + The Word

Then came the heart of our day—worship. Led by NCCS alum Blake Goss (’02) and the band from Crosspoint City Church, including NCCS Bible teacher and alum MaryBeth Lawler (’07), the room was filled with the sound of students lifting high the name of Jesus. Blake reminded us of a powerful A.W. Tozer quote: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” He challenged us to press into what the Lord might want to speak to us this week, creating space for reflection, focus, and praise.

Our speaker for the week is Daniel Findlay from Cumberland Community Church. Many of our students already know and love Daniel from past chapel services and Spring Term experiences. Tonight, he walked us through Philippians 1:27, our theme verse for the year:

“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.”

Daniel painted a vivid picture of Roman nationalism versus Christian community in the early church. He explained how our ID may tell where we live, but our passport tells where we belong—and for followers of Jesus, our true citizenship is in Heaven. He asked a compelling question:

“If you traveled to a foreign country, how long would it take for someone to recognize where you’re from? Now, how long would it take for them to know you're a Christian?”

He challenged our students to Live for Heaven—to live with integrity, stand firm in their faith, embrace unity, forgive freely, and strive side by side for the gospel. It was a powerful start to what we believe will be a life-changing few days.

We closed in worship with a reminder of God’s faithfulness to the generations. On this 20th retreat, we can clearly see His hand on both past and present. Our prayer is that our students see it too—that they know they are part of something far bigger than themselves.

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Cabin Wars

The night ended with wild and rowdy Cabin Wars, featuring a math battle, gaga ball, knockout, hungry-hungry-hippo dodgeball, and even a pitching wedge competition where students tried to get a golf ball as close to the pin as possible. Finally, we gathered around the bonfire before wrapping up the day and heading back to our cabins.

As we settle in for the night, would you join us in prayer? Ask the Lord to continue the work He’s beginning in the hearts of these students. The stillness of the cabin, the quiet conversations, and the Spirit of God all work together in ways we can’t always see—but we know He’s moving.

Thank you for your prayers, your partnership, and for entrusting us with your incredible kids. We can’t wait to see what God has in store tomorrow.

Go Eagles!
Megan Strange
Upper School Principal