Everything about the weekend was fabulous. The company {I went with 3 fab girlfriends from church}, the food {what's up with that myth that camp food is gross?}, the weather {MUCH warmer than I expected}, the speaker, the worship time, the fun activities ... ALL of it was amazing!
Isn't it just crazy how one weekend away can do wonders for a busy Mom? I felt soooo refreshed and rejuvenated when I came home.
The speaker was Sharon Jaynes who previously wrote for Prov. 31 ministries but now has her own endeavour called Girlfriends in God. Check it out online, you can sign up for email devotionals. She is an author and speaker and she was great. A real southern girl {love her accent!} who was the picture of grace.
We also had the choice to attend some seminars. We made tie dyed t-shirts. We went on a hike in the woods. We played wii Dance until we were sweating like pigs. They had craft classes and Zumba. Or you could just simply choose to be in nature and have quiet, personal time.
The cabin we stayed in was right on the lake ... in the morning this was our wake up call ... gorgeous, isn't it??!!
Here is the camp chapel - which they have actually outgrown. They now do chapel in the large gym and use this building for other things like activities, seminars, etc.
One of the most fun things we did all weekend was something called the Challenge Course. There were 12 women in our group - the 4 of us plus 8 women we did not know. We went through 4 different very difficult, very physical challenges in which we HAD to rely on each other in order to complete the tasks. 
Walking away as we finished the task ...
Even though the tasks were hard - they were fun too and we laughed our way through many of them ...
After that two of us did the rock climbing wall ... and the other two of us did riflery. I did riflery - I would have done the rock wall but we ran out of time ...
Trying to get a picture by the lake, we were being so silly and laughing so much that it was hard to get a pic with everyone's eyes open!
Later that night, the real fun began. We were told in advance to dress up for a decade and we chose the 70's - we went to Goodwill to find our costumes and then we had to dress up and wear them to dinner on Saturday night. It was SOOOOOOO much fun! Here is Joann {she has short hair so she got an afro and it was HILARIOUS!}
Here is Bethany ---
And Dee --- 
And myself --- we got the platform boot covers at Walmart in the Halloween section! haha!
A couple more fun photos while we waited for dinner ....
During the teaching time we had this very powerful lesson about seeing ourselves as God sees us and letting go of those burdens we tend to drag around with us, the things that we allow to get in the way of being the person God wants us to be in Him. We were told to write something on the paper that we were going to stop carrying around as a burden and go nail it to the cross and give it to Jesus. While we were doing this they were playing Amazing Grace and In Christ Alone and many, many women were just bawling. I cried too. It was such a powerful moment and something I won't soon forget.
The gorgeous lakefront ...
And the tallest trees ever ... seriously these things stretched to the sky ... reminds of that song 'Your love oh Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness stretches to the sky, your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice flows like the ocean's tide ...' 
The whole weekend was just a beautiful glimpse of what heaven will be like. I cannot WAIT to go back again next year!
One of the most fun things we did all weekend was something called the Challenge Course. There were 12 women in our group - the 4 of us plus 8 women we did not know. We went through 4 different very difficult, very physical challenges in which we HAD to rely on each other in order to complete the tasks. One thing that really stood out to me was the teamwork aspect. I know in this world that women can be so caddy and competitive with one another. You know what I mean - when you meet new women and automatically feel as though they are all sizing each other up based on looks, abilities, etc. Women can be downright mean to one another, can't they?
But here, in this place where the women knew and loved the Lord, there was NONE of that. We became comrades with these other women, we NEEDED one another in order to complete the challenges. We lifted {literally} each other, pushed each other, grabs each other's hands ... we could not have done it without every member of the team. Isn't that just the way it is in the body of Christ? Or rather how it should be? I just love that!
Anyway, sorry for the tangent, I just couldn't help but see the parallels with this challenge course and the Christian life. =) So, one thing we had to do was get ALL 12 women up into and through this tire that was suspended high above the ground. The first woman up had no one to catch her on the way down and the last woman up had no one to boost her up - it was HARD, but we all did it!
Walking away as we finished the task ...
Even though the tasks were hard - they were fun too and we laughed our way through many of them ...
After that two of us did the rock climbing wall ... and the other two of us did riflery. I did riflery - I would have done the rock wall but we ran out of time ...
Trying to get a picture by the lake, we were being so silly and laughing so much that it was hard to get a pic with everyone's eyes open!
Later that night, the real fun began. We were told in advance to dress up for a decade and we chose the 70's - we went to Goodwill to find our costumes and then we had to dress up and wear them to dinner on Saturday night. It was SOOOOOOO much fun! Here is Joann {she has short hair so she got an afro and it was HILARIOUS!}
Here is Bethany ---
And Dee --- 
And myself --- we got the platform boot covers at Walmart in the Halloween section! haha!
A couple more fun photos while we waited for dinner ....
During the teaching time we had this very powerful lesson about seeing ourselves as God sees us and letting go of those burdens we tend to drag around with us, the things that we allow to get in the way of being the person God wants us to be in Him. We were told to write something on the paper that we were going to stop carrying around as a burden and go nail it to the cross and give it to Jesus. While we were doing this they were playing Amazing Grace and In Christ Alone and many, many women were just bawling. I cried too. It was such a powerful moment and something I won't soon forget.
The gorgeous lakefront ...
And the tallest trees ever ... seriously these things stretched to the sky ... reminds of that song 'Your love oh Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness stretches to the sky, your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice flows like the ocean's tide ...' 
The whole weekend was just a beautiful glimpse of what heaven will be like. I cannot WAIT to go back again next year!
3 comments:
Makes me miss home and Camp B. I love looking at the pictures, seeing my childhood bible camp. It has changed, yet so much is the same, in a good way. Ahh, to have our bible camp run ministries like Camp B and other would be a dream come true.
I'm happy you were able to get away and have a great time with friends.
Kelly
Oh, I miss it there! I feel like I can almost smell the pine trees. :) So glad you had such a wonderful weekend.
I loved your post! I missed it SO much this year and meeting you! I'll be there next year, Lord willing. :) I am so glad you had a great time, a true retreat!
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