Maranatha Women's Retreat 2005

Wow! I had a really good time at the retreat!

It started off on a shaky note - Marissa got upset when she saw me loading my suitcase, and cried, "NOOOOO" when I took her car seat out of the car. I almost cried during the drive to Jess's, and started to rethink the idea of going at all.

The theme for the retreat was rest and relaxation. (I went to the Crosspoint Women's Retreat in January, and the theme was the same so I was prepared! By the way, I had a great time at the Crosspoint retreat as well - I highly recommend going to multiple retreats within a year.)

The food was very good. The company was excellent!!! The sleep was pretty good considering the cot and the late hours. The sessions were excellent - one on our need for positive self esteem, and one on our need for the miraculous.

The main point I took away to work on is the looking glass concept - our sense of self worth is derived from what we think the most significant person in our life thinks of us. We need to see God as the most significant person in our lives (which he is) and then discover what he thinks of us (in short - he loves us and thinks we are great!). In this way our self esteem is greatly improved and we become healthier people (mentally), and more like Christ.

We also wrote notes of encouragement to each other. I am most thankful for the ones I received. I also wish I could have written more. Did I mention that we cried a lot during the weekend?!?

Another first for me was - karaoke! The later it got, it seemed the better we got - this could be due to sleep deprivation?!? We also did lip sync's to Veggietales Silly Songs. They were so good you almost wish they were taped - almost, but not quite! It rained over the weekend, but it did stop long enough for us to have a campfire - with banana boats and smores, of course. We also squeezed in a walk in the mud to see the baby animals and horses.

Marissa had a good time during the weekend too. Auntie Diana (and Scott) were fabulous babysitters. She unfortunately had a bowel movement during a nap which Scott had to take care of as Diana thought she "was going to throw up!" But other than that, things went really smoothly.