I am SO blessed that for the past several years I've been able to attend the Ladies Retreat at a wonderful Christian camp in New Hampshire. This camp is just the most beautiful location and truly a place where God is at work. I have some pictures and LOTS of thoughts to share about the weekend! First of all, if you live in New England I highly encourage you to think about attending the Ladies Retreat next September! It is SUCH a time of refreshment and time to dig in and learn more about God's Word. They always have great food, great activities, fabulous speakers and seminars and a wonderful worship band.
When we got there we were welcomed by this cute sign, the theme was Fearless and they had a nautical theme throughout the weekend.
The GORGEOUS lake, the water is seriously so clean and clear, it's just breathtaking. There are mountains all around the lake which just add to the beauty.
There were about 20 women from our church who went, but we all sort of went in different groups. In our little 'group' there were 7 of us who shared a cabin together. I rode up with my beautiful friend Christina.
There were a LOT of activities and things you could do during your free time on Saturday - canoeing, kayaking, boat rides, riflery, craft workshops, massages, high ropes course, seminars, etc .... we tried to squeeze in several different things and at times we all split up and did separate things. A few of us did the riflery range and it was fun!
It was a GORGEOUS, sunny, 80 degree day so I also spent some time down by the lake hanging out with Christina and just enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful day.
Our group also went on a boat ride around the lake on the pontoon boat ... it was so pretty out!
And later in the day a couple of us tried the high ropes course. It's basically this course that is about 40 feet up in the tree tops and you climb up there, then walk from tree to tree on thin wires and stuff like that. I was terrified to try it, but also felt like going with the theme FEARLESS, I really, really, really wanted to try it and conquer my fears.
The first part was climbing up the cargo tube to get to the top - I figured, how hard can it be?? Well let me tell you - it was SO.PHYSICALLY.EXHAUSTING. By the time I reached the top my arms and legs hurt and I was trying hard to catch my breath!
Once I reached the top {and caught my breath!}I had to walk across on a thin wire from one tree to another. I WAS clipped in to the cable above my head and was able to hold on to the cable as I walked. It was still scary though! I was breathing SO hard and just kept my eyes focused on the tree ahead of me and not looking down!
After I reached that tree, I unclipped from that wire and clipped on to another one and then had to walk across this sort of rope ladder thing - also able to hold on to the wire above me, thankfully!!
Then I was ready to go down to the ground .... you can't see in the pictures, but they clipped you onto this thing where you held on and it basically let you free fall slowly down to the ground. I knew I was safe and I wouldn't just hit the ground but taking that step off the platform was SUPER scary! When all was said and done I was so thankful that I pushed myself to try it and was able to accomplish it!
That night we had a theme dinner and we all dressed up. We were sailor girls and it was so fun!
Sandy, Joann and I!
I just loved the theme - it was such an encouragement to my heart. There is so much I can say about all that I learned but I think I'd better save it for another post!
The lake on Sunday morning was covered in fog - it was GORGEOUS!
There were so many pretty trees and the weather was just beautiful. We were so fortunate to be there that weekend.
Christina and I when we were getting ready to head home ...
A view of the high ropes course from the ground - so you can see how high in the trees it is. =)
