Ladies Retreat in Western Colorado

 Last weekend, Jonathan drove us ladies to the ladies retreat held by the Western Colorado Holiness Church. You can just barely see the lodge where it was held, right in the center of the picture back in the boonies.

Last summer when Jonathan and boys attended the men's retreat, Jonathan insisted I attend the ladies' retreat in February. Imagine me driving over Monarch Pass in February!!!

So he insisted, and said he would drive me and stay with our friends the Saylors while I was there.

On the way over the mountains, we passed a bunch of antelope.

And aspen.

This lodge was near Needle Rock, which you can see out the window.

Carrie,  Rose, Katie Saylor and I roomed together in one room. 

There was no lack of food!

I wasn't able to get a picture of the tray full, but here are some left over, cute jars of parfaits, I believe you call them??

Loved the decor there. It's a new place, and the owners are Christians, and searching for a good church.

A book I discovered when I was looking through the bookshelf on second story. 

I promptly sat down and read a few pages. I hope I can find this book at the library, about prayer being more about relating to God than about asking for what we want.

Not a real great picture, but it's the dining room where the sun shone in the morning and in the evening through all the many windows! Needle Rock in the distance.

 Rachel England was the speaker, and I was thankful to get to know her a little better. She even was okay with letting me get a picture of us two together! Sorry it is so blurry. My phone does not take good pictures in dim light, and the flash is poor. 

Rachel is from a God's Missionary Church in Pennsylvania, where our friends Will and Darlene Byler attend.

Her theme was called "Purses of Purpose," using purses simply as an object lesson to talk about having a purpose for our life, just like we carry along a purse.  We need to take our purpose with us wherever we go, using the gifts God has given us for His glory.

Door prizes were given each session to whoever had the most purses along, or who had the most purses altogether, or who had their purse the longest! (The lady who won that one had this same purse for 20 years!)

Rachel shared a video clip of how Anuschka handbags are made in India,

with the artists preparing the leather, sewing it, painting it beautifully,

and loving the piece of work--just like God works on us but loves us the whole time.

God loves who He has made and how He has made us.

Rachel talked about how we have to learn to say no to many things in our lives in order to have room for what God wants us to do. We ladies cannot do everything, so even if we have to cut back on good things, we must do it.
She told of someone who had several children and had to let relatives know that her family could only travel back to visit on Thanksgiving or over New Years, but not both. That family was the "black sheep" of the family for a loooong time, due to the limits they set on their time and travel, but it was one of the things that family had to do to keep their priorities straight.
Not everyone will be happy with us, but we must please God and do what He wants, not try to please everyone around us.

The ladies signed and wrote notes on a card to Luhre Edwards, who spoke at last year's retreat, and who lost her daughter Jacinda since then.

More food.

The girls playing a game with new friends.

The warm fireplace with wood fire.

Scene from above.

Horses in the distance!

Bear hide on the wall.

Putting furniture back where it belonged after the retreat was over.

Carrie and Katie Saylor playing together just for fun.

One encouraging story Rachel told was about a mother, a teacher, who was on a public school board for many years. Then a new superintendent came on the board who was an atheist. This new superintendent hated the Christian lady. The lady tried to love her, forgive her, and pray for her, but finally after years of struggle, she and her husband felt that because of the stress, the lady should resign. She was so worried about who would ever take her place as a Christian on the board, but imagine her amazement when she found out that not only one Christian ended up coming onto the board, but two!

One of those conservative Christians was a lawyer who knew the laws, and immediately gained the respect of the superintendent and more! It was so much better that the mother of several children resigned from the board, for it gave God a chance to replace her with someone who was stronger and had better gifts.

Rachel's point was that we may think God can't replace us, that we are indispensable in some situations.

Instead, if we listen to His voice about doing too much or not being where we can serve with joy,

He will have something better for both us and the people we serve.

That was a blessing!