April 7

Today was the first day of our Women's Retreat, and I must say it couldn't have been any better. I had an easy morning getting the kids ready and was fortunate to have my ever helpful mother-in-law watch the kids for me so that I could go early and carpool with my friends. I am so thankful for her! I was able to "arrive" with my friends and we picked our room and bunks and set all our stuff up together. Sometimes getting away from the comforts of your own home can be intimidating, even when you know the people you are going with :) It made me so much less anxious to not have to go through that part on my own!

I thought I would just recap what happened during the retreat on my blog if that's okay with you all :) (You know you don't really have a choice, right? haha!) Our first session started with a pajama parade after dinner. Despite my searching for hours and finding very cute pajamas and matching high heels, I was definitely out of my comfort zone when I realized that part of the pajama party was to actually parade around the meeting room. I am probably still blushing from the whole experience. Seriously! I was all too happy to start the worship/message portion of our first session :)

When I learned that the theme for the retreat was "Anchored in Faith" and that it was supposed to be about different women in the Bible, I was immediatley excited. I love learning the Bible stories about the women in the Bible and how they were able to be used of God, despite their often less than desirable circumstances. Women who trusted God, and were obedient to Him, inspite of their feelings, because of their love and faith in Him.

One of the funniest people I have ever met, Heather York, who's an English/Drama teacher for special needs high school students, was our speaker for the first session. Her stories about her students are always hilarious and I was excited to hear what she had to share with us. She is an amazing woman, whom I admire very much, not only for her faithfulness and dedication to the Lord, but also for the example and encouragement she is in my life. The woman of the Bible who she focused on was Mary, the mother of Jesus. She took us all through the story of when/how Mary found out she would be pregnant with Jesus and what her response was. She said, "Let it be unto me as you have said." and how that's the attitude that we as Christians need to develop within ourselves to be a servant of the Lord. She also spoke about what Jesus' name meant, "God with us" and how appropriate and true it was through the personal examples from her life that "God was there" with her through all the trials and the blessings in her life. She encouraged us to look for God to be there when as we experienced the changes in our lives and to welcome them the same way as Mary did, with faith and trust in the Lord, knowing that He was there, with us. 

As she was sharing her stories of  her own "God with us" moments, I didn't have to think very hard to remember my own. Looking back on those times when I didn't understand the why's of my circumstances, now that I can see the bigger picture,  I am so much more thankful for God's hand of provision in my life.  I can clearly see that "God was there" and was orchestrating the entire thing to bring us closer to Him and was constantly revealing Himself to us in those difficult moments.

I hope you enjoyed hearing a little bit of what we learned about tonight and even though I am definitely no Heather York, I do hope that my interpretation will remind you to stop and remember those moments in your past when "God was there" for you, too. I also hope that you will be able to do as Mary, and in faith, say, " Let it be unto me as you have said" the next time God asks something big of you.

Here's one of the songs we sang today. I don't think I have ever heard this one before, and I loved it. I hope that it blesses your heart, too.