Note: the age range of the participants and staff who made these comments is 9^th through 12^th grade – 14 to 17 years of age. 

How would you describe your Celebration experience?

 Celebration has been the most amazing and life changing experience in my walk with God. It made me closer to him in so many ways and at the same time, I was surrounded by people who accepted me and loved me and were going through the same experience as me.

Celebration was one of the most wonderful retreats I have ever been to.  I loved it that everyone was so flexible and willing to serve.

Celebration was and is an experience that opens you. If you let it, Celebration shows you your heart and the hearts of others by looking through the eyes of God. It's the ultimate letting yourself go without the consequence of anything except amazing love!

Celebration gave me an opportunity to shut out the rest of the world. Our family group talked about how important silence is in our relationship with Christ. The experience gave me an opportunity to dig a little deeper in myself and talk with God on a more personal level.

I simply cannot put into words that explain the weekend. It is so awesome I have to make up a word for it, lets call it razamendous, that’s what celebration is, its razamendous

Celebration is the most safe, loving and accepting place I've ever been.  Its so much fun and you can meet so many new friends that are passionate about their faith and love the Lord with their life.

Celebration is one of the coolest church events that I have ever gone to. You grow closer to God, friends and adults all in one amazing weekend.

Celebration cleanses the soul.  It's a break from the stresses of everyday life, because it pulls you close to God and allows you to reflect on all the good things God has given to each and every one of us.

North Texas Celebration really is a life changing experience. I went into it, not knowing what to expect, and I came out with so much more faith in God, with so many new friends, and with one of the most memorable weekends of my life. The celebration communtiy truly is a family, and I absolutely love everyone of those kids and adults to death. 

What did you learn about yourself or someone else as a result of having gone to Celebration? 

I learned that we, as humans, cannot live our life on our own, we have to have someone there for us to take care of us. God is that someone and he will always be there for us no matter how hard we try to hide from him, or how hard we try to turn away from him he will always be there telling us he loves us.

I learned that I'm not as close to God as I should be and that if I want my relationship to grow I have to work at it and it's not just going to happen. Also, I actually understand how big of a deal it was for Jesus to have died on the cross for me and my sins, because I was brought up in the church and I heard the story a million times and I guess it got old (I know it's terrible) and at Celebration I finally understood what He was trying to make me, personally, understand (that He loves me no matter what).

I learned that I can help people just by telling them my own story.  Celebration furthered my belief that God has a plan for me, and that my hardships are just a part of it.  I know now more than ever that everything is going to be fine, and that somehow my tough situations will be used for the greater good.

I'm not overly out going and I don't usually make friends easily, but as I watched the people around me who, within a weekend, went from being complete strangers to incredibly close friends I realized that I'm not the only factor involved in making a weekend awesome. I forget to include God in my equation for a perfect weekend and once I let Him move in me everything is exactly the way it should be.

I learned that I need to find more time for God. I normally get caught up in my life and don't have time to talk to God. I learned that I need to make that little space of silence during the day so that I can talk with Him.

The craziest thing in the world is finding out just how much some people have gone through, and just how wrong preconceived notions or judgments can be...My perspective on life has changed through family discussions

I learned that one of my spiritual gifts is being a leader, loud and accepting and getting people going and involved and I can use that gift at Celebration.  From being a family leader and listening to people talk about their lives I've learned that everyone has bad stuff in their life and we can only get through it by relying on God and finding a network of Christian friends to love and support you through the bad times.

I have learned about the kind of a Christian that I am. I also learned that I need to spend more time with God.

I learned that it's always necessary to really think about things that appear bad in life.  It's human nature to look at the bad things over the good things in this world.  I learned to put it into proportion and to see it how it truly is.

How did Celebration affect your relationship with God and other people?

My relationship with other people grew tremendously, I became really closer friends within the 3 day period than with people i have known since elementary school. The people at NTC absolutely rock. My relationship with God grew also, I have been on several mission trips and at NTC I really felt God's presence more than at the mission trips.

Celebration helped me see the big picture, really. I know that He has a plan for me and that "NO" is an answer, so sometimes I won't get what I want or maybe not right then. I have been trying to be a witness to other people by not going with the crowd and reading my Bible more often.

My relationship with God is stronger than ever.  I feel very enlightened about His plan for me.  My friends and I have drawn closer to each other than ever before.  Simply being together for a weekend and watching each other serve other people our age creates a ton of mutual respect.  I never would've thought we could get closer than we were before, but we are.

After the last Celebration I was on a "God-high" for a while after, but after this Celebration I came back to school and found that loving all the people around me makes a huge difference in how I feel and how I make other people feel. I think I'm slower to judge and make sarcastic comments and more libel to be accepting and patient. I like thinking of God as my friend and through peoples talks I feel closer to Him and I can see the ways He has been present in my life.

Celebration brought me so much closer to God. I learned to talk with Him on a more personal level. I began to talk to him personally instead of talking to him as some super-natural being. I also met so many great new friends that share many of the same Christian values as I do. It was good to make those kinds of friends. They all helped me grow closer to God that weekend.

In 2 Timothy 1:7 it says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline."  Celebration has taught me to be bold with my faith, to not be afraid to just go up to someone, be the first one to say hello, and be a light of God's goodness and love in their life.

I realized that my relationship with God is not as close as I think it is. But after this weekend, I not only grew closer to him and realized that he is not just another authority figure, but he is someone that I can have a very close relationship with.

Celebration was like a wall in my faith that was put up behind me.  No matter what I do, I will never have less faith than I had before my first Celebration.  Each following Celebration, a new wall is built and I keep moving closer and closer to God in my faith.