Don’t you just love girl time? This past weekend, I attended a ladies’ retreat at one of our maritime camps that was such an encouragement to me. The whole weekend was a gift from God- a breath of fresh blessing!

The speaker was Chris Rogers, a pastor’s wife of about 13 years. Several of my ladies asked me before the retreat, “Have you met the speaker?” I answered “no.” But when the first session started and she passed out a hand painted card to each lady, I had a memory. I DID know this lady! Years ago (as in, probably 20 or more) my family used to travel to the H.E.L.P. (homeschooling) conference at Bob Jones University each year. My parents had a table there selling their books, and Chris had a table selling her cards. In fact, my mom (with little me standing beside her) used to go and buy Chris’ cards each year.  Years passed, and we just met again over the weekend. I shared my girlhood memory with her, and she thought that was just so neat. This time, I bought some of her cards to give to some special people. BTW, Chris’ father passed away early Sunday morning as she was about to fly out of Nova Scotia. Let’s keep her in prayer!

The first session was about finding our value in Christ, and not letting anything else define who we are. Here are some of the things Chris reminded us about:

Don’t let Satan deceive you into finding your value in:

Appearance

Accomplishments

Approval of others

Having a mate or having children

Materialism

…and more. It was a great reminder to find true confidence in who we are in God!

The second session was about forgiveness and bitterness, and how finding our value in Christ can enable us to forgive others. One good quote was “Stop looking at your wounds, and start looking at His.”  Amazing things happen when we do this- God gives grace that lifts us above the offence and focuses us on Christ!

The third session was a reminder of who God is to us. My favorite quote from this session was this: “God always meets my genuine needs.” As I think back on my life story, I know this has been true, and will continue to be. What a wonderful reason to praise him!

I enjoyed chatting with so many sweet ladies, old friends and a few new. I enjoyed catching up with my former pastor’s wife (her and her husband brought us to Canada in ’05) and some ladies from our former ministry, as well as lots of other dear pastor’s wives that I’ve come to appreciate so much. We even had a mini blogger meet up (there is actually one more blogger but we forgot to grab her for the picture!) Here I am with Amanda and Nicole:

One of the things that impressed me about the retreat is that everything we did was Christ-focused. It was amazing. At one point we broke into small groups to fellowship intentionally with prayer and praise. What a blessing! Even the skits and games were the perfect blend of humor and spiritual encouragement, always drawing us back to our theme of being “daughters of God.” I even won a door prize, after firmly declaring that I “never win anything.” ha!

To top things off, when I arrived home and began to unpack, I found a surprise in my purse. Sometime during the weekend, a sweet lady put a $50 bill in my purse without me knowing. It basically paid for my retreat. I have no idea who it was or why they did it, but what a surprise and encouragement that was to find! I am so blessed and thankful for God’s personal care for me.

Let’s chat! Do you have access to ladies’ retreats and conferences? How often do you get to attend? What is your favorite part about retreats, conferences, and girl time?