Epic Ladies Retreat!

Ladies Retreat for 2016 is in the books and WOW was it amazing! I mean, if we just start with the fact that it is our LARGEST Ladies Retreat that we can remember (and Colleen is a good reference...she's been at 17 consecutive Ladies Retreats). We've never sold out - never had 100+ Ladies PLUS a waiting list.


Just...Wow. The community and the spirit of the women that attended this weekend was just beautiful. I must say also - I've never - never heard such a reactive crowd. The "oooo's" and "ahhhhha", the gasps, applause, cheering, laughter, and even sympathetic 'mmmhmmmm's" throughout the weekend. It was almost as if someone was standing at the front with cue cards getting the audience to respond. I loved it.

Saturday's activities included zipline, archery, wagon rides (now an integrated part in our activities), Cooking with Ken, crafty fun with letters, stretching with Lisa, and wonderful fellowship on a beautiful day. Check out some of the fun:

We were treated to amazing worship led by Becca Mabbett and the Plaid Perennials (Joy Willms, Jillian Dempsey, Sarah Viejou, and Krista Quapp). It is such a privilege to have them back each year (hence the perennialism...is that a word?). They sang like angels and ushered us into a place of worship. These girls are all previous Spring/Summer staff members and we're always so happy to see them back to share their gifts with us.

 
Connie Cavanaugh had us in stitches with her stories and heart-felt lessons that she's learned in her life. There were so many nuggets to take away - like "Simply better is the journey - not the destination" and "Simple does not equal easy". More than that - the questions that I found myself asking after each session. These were some for me:

• Am I interruptable? Is there room in my life, my timetable for God to interrupt me?
• What five degree adjustment do I need to make or open to God making in my life?
• What are the things that are sucking me dry? What are my replentishers?
• What are the chocolates on the trail today?

I was in my office yesterday and I wrote the very first question down on a post-it note and stuck it to my computer monitor to remind myself to make time for God to interrupt me daily. That's the change that I made yesterday to live more simply. What changes have you made this week to live more simply?

I'll sign off with that...and an IMMENSELY cute photo of the only two MALE attendees to the retreat - Levi and Parker. This was them giggling and laugh in one of the sessions:

I also had a couple requests about one of the songs we sang over the weekend. It's called King of my Heart. Here is the song and the lyrics - because He is so, so good.

Thank you for coming to this year's retreat and stay tuned in the next month for our 2017 dates.

Much love, Jogee (Courtney)