Retreat

I just got back from the Women's Retreat here in town. Let me say that it was phenomenal. These retreats that I've been going to have been changing my life. It seems that God keeps doing these great works in my life. I'll try to do the best that I can to tell you what happened at these retreats, but I know that I don't do God and the speakers justice when I talk about these things.

The speaker we had this weekend was a woman that I know and love. God used her this weekend to speak truth into our lives.
We started out on Friday with some worship music (which was great) and then the speaker told us a little about her background. She went on to talk about carrying baggage. Some people think that when you've been "saved" you won't have that baggage anymore. The truth is that the baggage can still be there, and if you don't deal with it at some point it's going to get heavier and heavier.

After the service was over we went back to our quaint little cabin and talked until 2:30 in the morning. I got up at 7 because there was a prayer session going on at 7:30 that I felt I couldn't miss. It was great! After that we ate some fruit and muffins for breakfast. Than started the worship music again. :)

After the music was done, our speaker talked about things that will hinder your walk with Christ. She said that one of the biggest things that hinder women is low self-esteem. A symptom of low self-esteem that shows up alot with women is envy. We envy everything from the appearance of other women to the gifts and talents that we may or may not have. I learned something important about this. If God is using a woman in your church and you are envious of her you should bless her instead of curse her. Because if this thing is from God it will succeed, but if it's from man it will not.

God showed me this weekend that I do have to work on getting rid of some baggage. I learned a lot of things about envy, too. I never really had thought a lot about envy and what it can do to you. I don't want to compare myself to other woman and wonder why I can't be skinnier or prettier. I have to remind myself of how Christ thinks of me, as His child. What a crazy thought.

What a great time we had. To think that there's another retreat next weekend in Duluth. :)

"..Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1