Women's retreat was so absolutely incredible!!  I am so glad that I made it there!!

 

Friday was supposed to be heavy rain in the valley and snow in the mountains.  I prayed and prayed and had other people praying and guess what?  The weather was clear the whole way to the hotel!!  I picked the girls up a little early so that we could get there before it was dark.  Especially if I was looking at using chains. 

 

We got to the hotel right as the first session was starting, which was at 6 pm.  I am so glad that we made it there on time.  The speaker was Brenda Walsh.  http://www.brendawalsh.com/  She was so incredible!!  The first night was her testimony, which had every single person there in tears, even the two men running the audio.  They are the only men allowed at retreat, by the way.  Her story was so heartbreaking.  She got married at 18 to an abuser.  The things he did...she didn't even tell us the tip of it, but she is lucky to be alive, and so is her daughter.  The marriage lasted only about a year.  She was pregnant 2 months into it.  Someday you'll have to read her book Battered to Blessed.  It doesn't even tell nearly all of the story.  I was worried that it was too heavy for the girls, but looking at it now, I think it's what they needed to hear.  They are at the age now when they will have to make some very serious decisions.  This woman had decided to save herself for her husband and had always prayed about everything, but did not pray about him and barely made it.  I know it's an extreme situation, but boy did it convince the girls!!  I'm pretty sure they are both praying for God to bring their husbands to them in the future.

 

The next two days her speaking wasn't so hard to listen to.  She is so full of stories about how God has worked in her life and what prayer has done for her.  I know for a fact that Anayla is praying for her "divine commission", which is the chance to witness to someone else.  I don't think I've ever prayed so much as I did last weekend and the funny thing is, I never ran out of things to pray for!  Does that ever happen to anyone else?  Sometimes I start praying and I hit a brick wall.  She laid it out in such a way that I had tons of things and people to pray for!  They didn't give us enough time!

 

The other speaker was Ginny Allen from Oregon.  She was a public school nurse for 22 years, working with a lot of gang members, although she didn't talk about them that much.  She talked more about all that God has done in her life, what he promises to us and gave her testimony as well.  We cried with her as she talked about losing her son when he was 32 in a snowmobile accident.  It was a freak accident; he hit one of only 2 trees on the entire run and he was an expert rider.  Six months later, she nearly died when she got E-Coli in one of her kidneys.  All of her organs shut down, she had grand mal seizures, she coded and they told her husband she wasn't going to last the night.  Obviously she made it and she completely gives God the credit.  She doesn't have any books out, but I have read several articles that she has written.  She is such a sweet woman!!

 

Ginny really took a liking to Anayla and Yvette.  She was so excited to see a couple of 16 year olds!  She even pulled them up on the stage for a little chat.  Luckily my girls aren't shy and are used to be up in front of people.  They are going to be wonderful adults soon.

 

Between Ginny and Brenda having us all praying all the time, you'd think there wasn't much time for anything else.  But there was!!  The girls went sledding and walking around in the snow, throwing snowballs.  They were excited tha there was a heated indoor swimming pool and a small gym.   The phone in the bathroom was apparently pretty cool. (hahaha!)  Everywhere I went with those two, people were greeting them and giving them hugs or taking pictures with them.  Even the woman at the desk by the gym!  She literally squealed when the elevator doors opened.  "Girls!!  Girls!!!!! EEEEEEE!!!!!!  Come here and give me a hug!!"  Donna and I did some shopping in the gift shop and of course on Saturday night we shop the ABC sale.  ABC stands for Adventist Book Center.  It's like they set up a bookstore right there in the hotel and put tons of things on sale!  Huge sales!!  One set of books was marked down from $275 to $50.  I wanted to buy them, they're stories for kids, but there were so many other things I was buying that I figured I would wait until next year and they are a little older.  I did buy several books and I bought cool keychains for each of the girls and books for my kids.  I always spend so much at that sale!

 

The food at retreat, I just can't get over the food!  I love the food there, but I was a couple of pounds heavier on Monday morning.  Whoa!!  It is soooo good, though.  The girls went crazy over it as well.  I usually work it off on Saturday night, but my ankle was killing me after standing in line for what felt like an eternity waiting to have Brenda sign my books. 

 

On Sunday it was snowing.  Whoa, was it ever snowing!!  It was so thick that it looked like our fog here in the valley.  I fretted a little bit while sitting in the last session with Ginny, but she noticed that a lot of us were doing that.  She paused and prayed that we would all be safe no matter what the snow did.  I felt so much more relaxed after that.  We did have to put on chains to leave the hotel.  I had never used my chains before even though I've had them for a couple of years.  I got the first one on myself and only got one little bloody spot on my thumb.  I honestly don't know how that happened and it didn't hurt, but it bled and bled.  Finally, a couple of guys from the hotel staff came by and helped me.  I did have to show them how to put them on, but it was done!  We only used them for about a mile, but now I know how to put them on and take them off again.

 

It was a wonderful trip and I came home to a messy house, but the time with God was priceless.

I just adore Friday evening.  Once the sun sets I take a big sigh and start to relax, to let the day just wash away from me.  It is the start of my Sabbath.  I am a Sabbath-keeper, which means that from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday I turn off the TV, Alicia doesn't do any schoolwork, I don't do any cleaning, I don't go to the store...we just rest.  It is such a great way to end the week.  Had a stressful week at school for Ali?  It's gone on Sabbath.  Had way too many errands to run and didn't get everything done that I wanted this week?  I don't have to worry about it; I let it go and just rejoice in God.

 

That's not to say that I don't make any exceptions and live fast and hard to a rule.  If one of the kids isn't feeling well, I have no problem at all going and getting them some medicine at the store.  If I have unexpected company and don't have anything in the house to feed them, I will definitely go and get them something to eat!  I just choose to rest and not put others to work unnecessarily.  It is such a nice time, turning off the outside world and focusing on God and family.  Often, after church on Saturday, my brother and my sister will bring their kids over and we will spend the afternoon eating and talking.

 

This evening I thought that I would possibly do a children's devotional with the kids.  We have a very cute Veggie Tales devotional book that does a great job of getting the Bible message across.  That's what I thought I would do.  They both conked out before 7 pm.  What am I to do now?  I'm not doing any more cleaning, even though I wouldn't mind clearing the table off some more, but I'm trying hard to stick to the whole rest thing.  I could read, but I've read practically everything in the house at least once or twice and the things I haven't just don't sound very interesting to me at the moment.

 

So here I sit, online.

 

I can update you on the women's retreat next weekend.  I'm going!!  I am so happy.  God even found a way for us to keep our room at 4 occupants.  I am taking my niece Anayla and paying for her, but she suggested taking one of her best friends with us to keep her occupied so that Donna and I wouldn't feel as if we were responsible for her every minute of the day.  I'll probably still feel that way, but I was game anyway.  So now Donna and I will be rooming with Anayla and Yvette.  It should be very interesting.  They're both extremely sweet girls and full of God and His love, but they are.....well, they're 16.  They are 16 and all that that implies.  I don't mean about boys, although yes, they are definitely interested in those creatures, but they are 16 and they chatter constantly.  CONSTANTLY.  And, as much as I love both of them, they aren't always quick to pick up on things.  My jokes just aren't as funny when I have to explain them, you know?

 

(Anayla, if you're reading this, remember that I love you like my own!!!)

 

Needless to say, it should be an interesting weekend.  Guess I'll find out next Sabbath!!  I hope that we all get a blessing from our retreat and come home with a greater love for God.

I started a blog entry the other day.  I was going to fill everyone in on what has been happening in my life.  Then, I realized it was boring to ME, so how is it going to be for someone else?  I just closed the page without saving.

 

I will just gloss over the past couple of months.  Thanksgiving was at Karnette's house and it was great.  Christmas was at my house and it was great.  The kids got what they asked for and a bunch of clothes because they are growing too quickly.  New Year's Eve was here and it was great.  Shawn, Karnette, Khori and Lachelle came over and we ate dinner and watched Music & Lyrics.  Cute movie.  As soon as the ball dropped and we toasted the new year with sparkling cider everyone left.  They wanted to beat the drunks onto the streets and get home safely.

 

There are some things I'm going to concentrate in this new year, 2008.  I don't like to call them resolutions; resolutions are too easy to amend.  Instead, I want to implement some lifestyle changes.  I am going to lose the weight I gained during my broken leg period and keep it off.  I am going to pay off our debt, other than the house, and then start working on chipping away at that.  I am going to keep the house cleaner.  Actually, that last one I've been working on for awhile and I have been making improvements.  It's not constant, but it's better.

 

I am looking forward to women's retreat at the end of this month.  I think.  Donna and I had our roommates lined up and they have both bailed on us.  I could take Anayla, but the price would go up $20 for each of us.  Oh, what to do, what to do!?!?  We aren't even sure now if there is a room available.  Maybe it wasn't meant to be this year.  Maybe we need to do something else.  I'll pray about it.

 

We are in the middle of a rain and wind storm.  Actually, for the time being, both have died down.  However, I did see a jack-knifed semi this morning, a pickup slammed into the center divide and another semi hanging off the overpass above the railroad tracks.  The trailer was literally hanging from the railing by its back tires.  I hope that all the people involved in all three of these accidents are okay.  Some people just need to respect the road and the fact that one must drive differently with the weather.  There are tree limbs everywhere, but the air has a clean smell to it.  Alicia was scared of the storm earlier today and I told her that the wind and the rain are God's way of cleaning the earth.  The wind blows the impurities out and away from us and the rain washes everything and feeds the plants as well.  Hopefully she'll continue to look at it in that light and be comforted during the continuing storm this weekend.

 

Stay safe, everyone!