church ladies retreat weekend

a couple of weeks ago i had the privilege to attend my church ladies retreat.

it was good times, let me tell you.

i was a bit nervous at first.

yeah, i'm social... in some ways...

but only when i'm with people i know really well.

does that make sense?

if i'm with people i don't really know i tend to be a bit awkward.

i'm working on it.

but the weekend was a good stretching experience for me.

getting to know some ladies in my church that i didn't know before.

our church is pretty big...

we have 2 separate services on sunday mornings and probably around 2000+ people.

you know how it is... 

you recognize a lot of faces but don't really 'know' or talk to all those people.

now it'll be different for me... and i'm excited about that!

so... our trip began with some snacks at the gas station with these 2 lovely ladies.

hello!
here's the awesome lodge we stayed in.
this is like rich kids camp, ya'll!
super fancy like.
the camp i grew up in was definitely not this modern!
so that was a nice change of pace now that i'm an adult! ha!

roomies!!!!

look, we even had bunk beds!!

we were lucky enough to do a beth moore bible study.

seriously!?

how awesome is beth?!

i always heard about how great she is...

now i really know!

the study we did is called, 'loving well'.

and it was very enlightening.

great for everyone!

here is my bad pic of beth and her texas hair on the video screen.

and we were completely spoiled by awesome food all weekend long.
the best part?
not having to cook once the whole weekend!
yayyyyy!!
oh yeah, and eating hot food.
oh man, it's the little things!

we could choose a few extra activities.
D and i did some journal making.
how can i resist pretty paper?

here's my finished product.

and here we are with both our journals!  :)

waiting for a session to begin.
we always got nice and comfy!
and even goofed off a bit.

it was foggy and dreary all weekend long.
but no matter... it made it cozy, in my opinion.

here was the awesome communion table.
bottles of grape juice and big loaves of bread.
you just got to rip off a piece.
i really liked the way it was done.
felt very intimate and special.
like it really was the 'bread' and the 'wine' at the real table.

the ladies in charge of the retreat poured the juice and it felt so communal.
we were our own little community that weekend.
these women were showing Jesus to me.

on the drive home i thanked God for the experience.

and enjoyed the last couple of hours of peace before kid time!

it was a great weekend and i'll definitely go again.

i learnt a ton about myself and those around me.

close to me... and not so close.

hopefully i will love better than i have in the past.

God is teaching me new things each moment of each day,

with the good AND the bad.

hoo boy!  

that is hard!

but i truly am thankful for that.

there was an awesome prayer that we began each session with that i have to share here.

it reminds me to stop what i'm doing in those tough moments and take a breather.

it is so true...

‘In this eternal moment, I am enough and I have enough.
I have complete access to You, this very minute.
I long to walk with you in the present, to fully engage with You in relationship.
I long to be able to say, ‘In this moment I rest in God.
In this moment, I find all I need.’