2006/07/17

Retreat

Last week I spent three days in a hotel enjoying a retreat with other pastor’s wives from the region of Sovereign Grace churches Dave Harvey oversees. The kindness of God, expressed in the kindness of the ladies of CFC opening their annual pastor’s wives retreat, was evident in many ways. Slippers. Yes, slippers were one of the creative ways Kimm Harvey sought to bless us and make us feel like this is just one big slumber party. We didn’t call this a conference, or a retreat. We called it “girlie time”…and from the pretty name cards, Victorian centerpieces, gift bag (including chocolate, breath gum, and the sound track from Pride and Prejudice), laughter and tears…girlie time was the perfect name. Kimm Harvey is truly one of the most personable individuals I have ever met. She set the tone, and sustained it with her sincere desire to bless us, as well as her love for a good time. Many thanks to this lady who worked so hard and served us so well! Seriously out of place men. Aron Osborn and Dave Harvey provided the outstanding teaching we received bringing sharper focus to our role as women biblically defined, and more specifically with application to how this looks for pastor’s wives. Small groups. One huge blessing from the retreat was the small group I was blessed to be a part of. Each lady shared insightfully, articulately, and humbly. Wow! Talk about your dream discussion group…anyway, I am so happy to have had the privilege to get to know ladies that I have previously only seen from a distance. Scheduled personal retreat hours. Yep. Two block times were carved out of our schedule just for me, God, and a few good books. I am so grateful for this opportunity. Armed with Carolyn Mahaney's personal retreat outline, much coffee, and a God-given understanding of my desperate need for this time, I received much encouragement, refreshment, and direction for my day to day life. Sharing. Because I wish you could have all been there with me, I am going to hopefully do the next best thing and share some highlights over the next few days. This is to help me as much as you. It is amazing how already, less than one week later, it is already a bit foggy. I look forward to sharing with you what God showed me during those cherished days. Whether it is insights from ladies in my growth group, parts of the teaching that I found helpful, or my personal responses to both of those things, I hope to pass along at least a little bit of the grace imparted to me through this retreat.

7 comments:

FishMama said...

Yeah! Sounds great! Thanks for being willing to share. You always have such great posts....

Karen Hevesy said...

Whaaaa!!! I can't believe I missed it, thanks for giving me the highlights, I look forward to reading all the posts.

Danielle said...

Oooo, can't wait to hear what you learned. I talked to Daryl at Zac's wedding and it sounded like a wonderful time!

Danielle said...

And isn't that P&P soundtrack lovely? I listen to it all the time at work.

Briana Almengor said...

Can't wait to get some of the goods! Thanks for being faithful to pass them onto us!!
I'm so glad you had the opp. to go to the retreat. :)

Zoanna said...

And you got to come back to what?
I'm thinking you parked the slippers at the mailbox, before stepping barefoot on Legos. Anyway, welcome back. How nice is a full comment box!

Laurie said...

Karen, we missed you sorely... especially when we got lost. We went back and forth on rt. 202 so many times we actually named the road kill. You would have had fodder for a funny post had you been there.

Zoanna, you know I left my kids with my husband, so my house looked cleaner than when I left it (except for the basement). :)