Beautiful Me Retreat!

These are the beautiful women God has placed in the Beautiful Me program this year.
This picture was taken after a program where we talked about "Seeing" and they
had some fun with eye makeup on their mommy/daughter date. 

This morning I unraveled the jumbled mess the children had made out of the rope connecting my hammock between two mango trees so I could sit peacefully and read God’s word for me today before I rushed into a busy day.  I rewrapped it carefully (for my hammock activity is much more calm than theirs), and sat down slowly, as you do when you’ve just tied your hammock.  Good thing, too, because all that swinging had taken a toll on my home made rope, and I found myself dropping onto the sandy ground.  After making sure I wasn’t in pain, I giggled, and sat on my hammock instead of in my hammock to read.  I read in Mark 6, “The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught.  Then Jesus said, 'Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.' ”   That WAS God's word for me today!  I feel a great need to rest a while, but heavy on my mind is the Beautiful Me retreat planned for mid-March. 

Jesus knew that his disciples needed to come away.  Never mind that before they got the chance, a huge crowd had gathered and he had compassion on them and taught them all day. Jesus didn’t get the retreat, but his disciples got to sit and listen to him teach, being reminded of how much they loved their teacher and Lord, before the climatic feeding of 5,000 men (and their families) and then him walking to them on the water in the middle of the night.  In this this story, I see our vision for the mother daughter retreat.  Come away with Jesus.  Along the way, see your own need for His shepherding, sit under his teaching, and experience his feeding and presence in your boat.  Oh, how we long for this to happen!  May we all sense Jesus calling us away to "rest awhile" with him. 

I have two requests for you:

Pray for the leadership as we prepare. For the participants, may God prepare them to come away with Jesus and may they do the exercises of praying together and reading God’s word together.

We are looking for 14 women who will each pray for one of the mother/daughter pairs leading up to the retreat.  Please email me if you are willing, or comment here, and I will contact you.