The weekend of October 23-25 was the Singles Women Retreat and it was just fantastic!  I couldn't have even dreamed about how God took the framework and basically did an EXTREME MAKEOVER on it!  If our plan was for A, He took it to Z.  It was a chance to serve each other, to meet needs that we don't normally get to see, let alone meet and a reminder of how Big God really is.  Being at the cabin in the fall is just gorgeous.  We took hikes, had prayer walks, and made many, many memories that we can treasure. 

     The Child-Like Heart Concept was supported by lessons on being child-like including perseverance, unconditional love and trust, and having a teachable heart.  Throughout all of the lessons and sharing a common theme came out about surrendering control, admitting ' I don't know' and being willing to imitate, follow, and learn from many different sources.  My favorite moment was in Arts and Crafts if you can believe it!!  We made collages from magazines that could represent before/after, a bucket list, a dream board, whatever....and then we sat in a circle and shared our completed collages.  WOW!  So intense and deep and more revealing than I thought it would be.  The women really took it as an opportunity to share what they were feeling-both good and bad-about their lives and where they are.  I still have difficulty putting it into words.  Very emotional.

     We of course had our funny moments including: the run in with the Lizard..oh I mean FIRE BREATHING DRAGON…according to Joan Bonner ... The drama of having an age range of 27 to 67..well that was interesting... The discovery of where exactly they were upon waking up Saturday morning in the daylight!  Exclamations of "oooh how pretty", "Hey, we're in a cave" and "HEY WHEN DID THAT LAKE GET THERE??"  could all be heard through out the cabin in the AM. The hiking of Devils Hill…that thing was a BEAST!!  We can't wait to do it again next year! Sarah Wiegman