Women's Retreat Recap

I started my weekend off great!! I ended up driving myself to the retreat. I was running a tad behind and before I left town, I had a choice between filling up with gas or getting a green tea frap from Starbucks. I opted for the green tea frap. Once I had the frap, I hit the interstate and cranked up the praise and worship music!! It was great! This view greeted me as I drove in the gate at Falls Creek and it set the tone for the weekend...

This illustration came to my mind as I took several pictures of the cross. The farther away from the cross, the smaller it is. The closer to the cross I drove, the bigger it got. That is true with our view of the cross of Christ and His sacrifice. The farther we move away from the cross of Christ, the smaller it is in our lives. The closer we walk and get to the cross of Christ the bigger it is to us and the bigger the impact. Just a thought.

Falls Creek is a beautiful facility. I took a few minutes on Saturday to walk around and look at the remodeled cabins and some of the falls. The scenery is beautiful and aids in a relaxing atmosphere where you can fill/sense the Holy Spirit. Here are so more viewsThe old tabernacle was torn down and a state of the art conference facility was built in its place. The old tabernacle was open air and the new is enclosed and air conditioned....great for cold or hot.

Here is a taste of the praise and worship. I love "Everlasting God" The words are incredible and God used music once again to put me in my place with Him. God is our hope, our deliverer if we only let Him. He does not faint or grow weary..even if we do. He comforts those in need!!! Thank you God!! The video is not of the best quality but I wanted you to hear/see what I experienced. The video does not do justice in portraying the amazing experience of hearing 2,900 women praising our God and Saviour. I only recorded for a few seconds. I had to sing too. The benefit of having so many women in one place was I could sing as loud as I wanted to and no one except God heard me!!! Which is a praise in itself if you knew what a bad voice I have.Jennifer Rothschild was AMAZING!!!! And she is absolutely beautiful and has an amazing voice! I could listen to her for hours. She speaks the truth. I didn't want the main sessions to end. . I didn't realize she could sing so beautifully. Her voice (both speaking and singing) was soothing to my heart and mind. I still have very personal struggles that I share only with my husband and God over loosing a second baby in February and knowing I will never have a child growing in my womb again. I desperately needed to hear many of the words I heard on Friday and Saturday morning.

Here are some main points of her lesson from Friday night:

**There is liberty that comes from realizing there are questions that have no answers. FAITH.

**When you ask is this fair always contemplate: God's grace, God's forgiveness, God's peace. We receive that which we do not deserve. Gratefully receive what He gives us.

**We can RESIST or REST. Both of these words have common letters...except the "I". Don't be consumed with the "I" or we will resist God and resist His rest. When we cling to God, we can REST in His sovereignty..

**If you ask questions expecting answers, you will not be satisfied. Ask questions to cultivate a relationship not answers.

**"The just shall live by faith." This allows you to see what you may have otherwise not seen. Faith turns the low places into high places.

**Why does it seem like we have no faith? Ans: We rely on feelings more than we rely on faith. We are called to trust God whether we understand or not.

**Trust God with the Why?.

**Praise God in the pain though the mystery remains.

I will post more on the second session with Jennifer and some of the breakout sessions I attended tomorrow or Tuesday. I'm getting sleepy and this is turning into yet another long post. But there is just so much to tell you.

Here are some pictures of some of the ladies who also went.

Tara Swinford (left) and Julie Marley (right). This was taken Saturday morning. We didn't get to sleep until after 2:00!!!

We stopped back by Joe's Pizza on the way home. From Left: Dee Scott, Melissa, Tara, Jill Johnson, Julie Marley, and myself.