A Wonderful Women's Retreat

I had one of the best weekends in a long, long time at a women's retreat and I almost didn't go! A few months ago I heard about an upcoming women's retreat sponsored by the church where I attend a Bible study. After looking at the calendar I realized I would be out of town the weekend the event was held, frowned a bit over what I'd be missing out on, then promptly put it out of my mind. Well, months later circumstances changed and I found myself having to cancel my out of town trip. But since I'd long ago responded "No" to the retreat I didn't even think about the fact that I could now go. It wasn't until one of my good friends, who attends the Bible study with me, mentioned that they had an available bed in their room should I still want to go. So there I was on a Tuesday when the retreat began that Friday. Registration for the retreat had closed and I hadn't discussed anything with Nate. But with a bit of soul searching I decided that I'd give it my best shot and if God wanted me to go to the retreat he'd line things up for me. :-)

Shelly and Linda right before Shelly's talk on where we place our identity (In Christ or in money/appearances/health/successes/etc).

First up...talk to Nate. When he got home from work that Tuesday night I mentioned the retreat, the cost, and my desire to go. His response was the worst kind...indecision! A firm yes or no would have ended the discussion right there, but with an "I don't know how this would work" I couldn't move forward on going or backward on staying. I finally asked that he think about it and let me know by the time we went to sleep so that I could work on seeing if they'd open up registration for me the following day. As the hours ticked by I figured my lack of an answer was an answer of no. Imagination my surprise when right as we were saying good-night to each other he turned and said that if I really wanted to go then I should go! Yay!!!

Amanda talking about what our ultimate identity is: A Child of the One True King.

The following day was a mad flurry of activity as I contacted the contact person, got their approval to register (way) late, went by the church to register and pay for the retreat, and find a babysitter for Abby (as the carpool of gals I was going to the retreat with were leaving at lunchtime while Nate wasn't able to get off work until later). But with an awesome neighbor down the street who happily agreed to watch Abby at the last minute all my ducks were lined up and I was all set for retreat time!

One of the breakout sessions. There were so many people that we quickly overfilled the available chairs and were sitting on the ground, against the walls, etc. 

The car ride was what you'd imagine when six ladies get together for three plus hours of chatting right before a women's only (no men or babies!) get together. While I knew most of the women in the van (one gal I had met briefly previously, but basically just knew her name) it was great getting to know them outside of Bible study or park playdates. Being a Stay at Home Mom means you get to know women's Stay at Home Mom personality, but before we were Mom's we were ourselves and that tends to come through best when you're not stopping the conversation every 30 seconds to "Mom" your child.

Our view from the lodge.

As we walked into the opening session I had big plans for taking tons of pictures and scrapbooking about my experience. The theme of the retreat was Rooted: Your Identity in Christ and I figured that this would make a great addition to the memories of my family. Well, my intent was great. My execution...not so much. :-) I think I took less than ten pictures the whole weekend. But truly, the session topics were so awesome that I spent most of my time engrossed in what was being said that I wasn't wanting to get out of that head space to take a photo. And during free time I was having too much fun doing the DIY projects (homemade exfoliating soap and a crocheted face scrubby) to take pictures of it. I do have to mention that the face scrubby was my first time ever crocheting. It took me the time of the crochet session and the entire movie watching later that night to finish what is essentially a three inch round scrubby. But I did it!

My carpool buddies! Becky, Jessica, Me, Evgenia, Sara, and Alicia.

The retreat did have one downfall and that was major lack of sleep. My roomies and I stayed up until after midnight both nights and then I slept terribly both days. Getting up at 1am, 4am, 6am, and finally 7am meant for a very short night of sleep. Add in a full day's worth of activities, many of them mentally taxing, and by the time we left on Sunday I was ready to go home just to get a good night's sleep! I'm not cut out for this partying lifestyle anymore. :-)

This wonderful weekend was all possible because of Jessica!

But truly. The weekend was fantastic. I got to hear some great speakers on some fantastic topics (one of which I'd actually had on my heart for quite a while but just wasn't doing anything about it. Hearing truths about that topics was what I needed to get moving on making some changes in my life.), got some quality time with some of my Bible study gals, learned a new craft (of which I've decided is something I can mark off and not worry about doing again for a long, long time), and, most importantly, learned more about God and how to better center my life in Him.

On our drive home we were all discussing what we would come back to with husbands carrying for kids by themselves all weekend long. For some women in our car this was a nervous question as they hadn't left their kids with their husband for this long of time before. As for me...I figured I'd either come home to a disaster of a house because Nate had been playing with Abby all weekend (perfectly fine by me) or a super clean house as he'd made a list of projects and had Abby help him with those or play independently (also perfectly fine by me). What I didn't expect was that Nate and Abby not only kept the house clean but they also purposefully went out and bought plants I'd been desiring to make my homecoming special. Imagine my surprise when Abby grabbed my hand yelling "Come see, come see!" and running towards the back yard when I came into the house. Upon opening up the sliding glass door I saw that I now had a hanging basket, a box of strawberry plants for Abby to help garden, and a Clematis plant to hopefully grow up our pergola to help shade the setting sun.

My new petunia hanging basket and box of strawberries.

Grow, baby, grow! Shade that sun!

As I look back upon my time at the retreat I am so thankful that the stars aligned in such a way for me to attend this wonderful event. I not only got some "me" time out of the house, but I did it in a setting with great friends, a heartfelt message, and some personal growth. I can't wait for the next retreat!