I have to admit that between being out of town and too busy and too tired, we have not been to church in quite some time. And unfortunately it's one of those things that if you let too much time pass, it is harder and harder to go back. This weekend was our church's women's retreat up to Montreat, one of my favorite places on earth. Prior to this weekend, two wonderful ladies asked me to go on the retreat. (No, they did not gang up on me. I don't think they knew the other had said anything to me about it.) Put that together with my next door neighbor, who is the Christian Educator for the church, mentioning that there was space AND I could have my own room...I decided what could it hurt. I knew only a handful of the 44 ladies attending but thought I'd give it a try again. I am not always comfortable in a group because I am very much an introvert and I generally do not trust others ability to accept me. (Yes, I know there's some deep, dark, psychological voodoo going on there but...it is what it is.)
So, Friday I picked up one of the wonderful ladies that invited me and we headed for the hills. It proved to be a fantastic weekend of sharing and studying women of the Bible as well as talking about women in our lives that have been jewels and sources of wisdom for us. I rekindled some old friendships and met new friends. We stayed up too late, ate too much and laughed constantly. Now I'm home and physically exhausted but my spirit is rejuvenated. One of the really extraordinary things about this group of women is there seems to be a genuine acceptance of all. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and upbringings and are all ages. There is not a feeling of judgement but one of acceptance. No one asked why I had not been to church in so long and there was no pressure to come back. Because of that, I may just show up the next Sunday morning I'm home.
2 comments:
So glad you enjoyed your retreat, the best examples are those around you that lead by example rather than preaching. Sounds like these ladies understand that.
Awesome, so glad you had such an affirming and spirit-filled experience! I love retreat weekends, my daughter and I went on one at our Lutheran Camp near Asheville at the end of February with another mouther-daughter couple (from a different church than ours)and no one else we knew out of approximately 150 women. I had never felt so comfortable, welcomed or accepted... all Children of God in the same place at the same time. That's what heaven is gonna be like, too!
Post a Comment