Ladies Retreat

When our church hosted a one night away ladies retreat, I knew I should go. I figured it would be a nice night away from normal and a great chance to get to know other ladies in the church better. I had no idea I'd have such a great time!!! Our ladies' ministry retreat team works so hard to put together an amazing weekend. Thank you team!

This year's theme was "Life is not a bowl of cherries" (sometimes you get the pitts). It also had an old-home feel of decorations and activities, returning to when women took care of the home in every aspect. No, I'm not inspired to spin my own cotton to make clothes with. But, the team went all out with trailers full of decorations to make the theme up right. This lady on the stage was in full time-warp mode, talking about how things were done way back when, all while she spun wool.

Upon arrival, we dropped off our snacks. Needless to say, we wouldn't be going hungry this weekend! We got a cherry tote bag with our itenerary and other goodies for the weekend. Then, we could scope out the goody baskets. Let me tell you, these baskets are something! There were some for silent auction- everything from home decor themed stuff, handpainted artwork, a complete set of dishes. Then, there were raffle baskets- more themes of chocolate, laundry, old fashioned candy, girly stuff (one had a digital camera), and tons more. I think there were over 60 baskets to be auctioned/raffled. All the proceeds went back to the ladies ministry, some of which was donated to a project at the church (our new book store). I bought 5 tickets and actually won a basket of old fashioned candies. It's been fun remembering some of them from childhood, but others were before my time. Still, we've enjoyed it!

We made crafts- a knot doll and a Bible cover. Beth has been asking about a Bible cover, so I was happy to get to make one just for her. She loves it! The doll, well, mine has issues :)

We had fun team building activities. Come to find out, most of the ladies on my team aren't highly competitive. But, we worked well together to get it all done. We had to decorate our team's pole with limited supplies. We had a deviled egg making contest- starting with an egg toss. We had jacks competitions and apple peeling contests.

We had a team skit, selling something. We "sold" a cure-all tonic. Mrs.Ginger (our preacher's wife) came up with a great pitch- it turns your tan skin pale, your brown eyes blue, makes your nails grow, gets rid of wrinkles, makes you rich, you name it. We won because ours was truest to the time theme! :) We also had a scavenger hunt of sorts. There were 46 descriptions of ladies and we had to find who matched that and get their signature. Things like- a stay at home mom, someone who bungee jumped, someone who'd been on Price is Right, someone who could sing I'm A Little Teapot, etc. Then, our teapot singers had to prove it. Hehe! We won this too!

While all this was fun, our main reason for going was spending time growing in Christ as Christian women. The study scripture for the weekend was the book of Joshua, with Joshua 24:15 as our key verse "As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord." Linda Chappell was our speaker, and she was such a sweet lady. Some key thoughts I learned that weekend:

• Bend your knees before He breaks them. Submit with a gentle bow.
• What is keeping me from God's promise of abundance? John 10:10 talks about having life abundantly
• What is MY sacrifice for Him?
• God already has in me what I need in order to serve Him. I just need to do it. I Corinthians 1:27- I have no excuses! Acts 13:36- David served his generation- I need to do the same in mine.
• In order for my life to bear fruit, I have to overcome fear of failure and humiliation.
• Revelation 12:12- Satan already knows his time his short, and he's gonna work to do everything he can to keep us from God.
• Have I considered God's will for my children vs. my hope for them?
• Don't allow fear of the world to remove the wisdom of God's Word.

I really enjoyed the quick trip away to learn and grow in God and friendships. I am already looking forward to next year and hoping my mom will come along.

If you are curious about this God I yearn to serve better, please ask me. I'm happy to tell you about the joy in my life because of Him. I'm even more excited to tell you about the joy I have in knowing, without a shadow of a doubt, where I'll spend eternity when I die. I want you to know where you'll be too. Yes, know, not hope or think you'll be.