Women's Retreat

My cup is overflowing. This weekend was so wonderful. I was able to attend my church's Women's Retreat in Black Mtn., NC. It was so gorgeous. Being in the mountains in the fall really made me miss our days in Boone. The leaves were all changing and falling. Blue Ridge Assembly is where we stayed; it is tucked away and very wooded.

The theme for our weekend was about how God is with us and for us. Sounds simple, but really a profound thing. We heard many messages about how people in our lives can truly let us down and not reflect the love and acceptance that the Lord can. Our speaker, Margot Starbuck Hausmann, actually attends our church. I will write about her down by her picture.

I was able to connect with so many ladies that I had been longing to know better. The amount of conversations I had was just endless! I really soaked it up.

I will share some pictures and tell you a little more about my time away . . .

This is just one gorgeous angle of the place where we were.

This is me and my buddy, Emily. We rode up together with a bunch of girls and we roomed together. This is such a fun girl.

This is Margot. She spoke to us several times this weekend. Each message was full of lots of stories, challenges for us and scripture. Just to let you in on it, here is what we were given about Margot before we attended the retreat:

Margot will help us think through what our lives would be like if we truly believed that God is with us and for us. Too often life’s circumstances make it pretty hard to believe that in our deepest places. Margot herself journeyed along a path until she grasped the truth that God was the One who was and had always been for her. She writes, “The New Testament paints a picture of Jesus knocking himself out to convince us both of our worth as image-bearers and of his Father’s unfailing love. As we begin to catch on to the transforming truth that God never leaves us and is entirely for us, as we come to know it in our bones, we’re set free to grow in love for God, others, and ourselves.”

Margot has written a book entitled The Girl in the Orange Dress. After hearing her story, I am eager to get it. She is a very unique and fascinating person. She has a website; click here to find out more about her.

Ali, Emily and Anna

We had lots of free time on Saturday afternoon. I joined a group of ladies and we went hiking.

We had over 80 people attend our retreat. The organizers split us up into small groups that we were able to meet with each day, multiple times. This is my group. I grew to truly enjoy each and every one of them.

As we left, I had to take a picture of the snow capped mountains. Just gorgeous!

Needless to say, I am so glad I went. I am dog tired, but at the same time I feel so refreshed and loved on. Special thanks to my amazing husband, Scott. He held down the fort so well. He even did ALL the laundry!!! Hooray! Time for some Scott time . . .