The Final Photos from the Retreat...

Good times....

Long remembered...and treasured, as are so many sweet surprises.

Hugging each neck was like a present for me. A big surprise gift tucked in the holding of a dear friend from miles away...close to heart.

I give God the glory for all the blessings He POURED into my life from the hearts of these dear friends...

And we have 3 little friends who think you can talk into a banana....

Can you hear me now???

The Retreat (not exactly like the post on The Knightly News)

I know I've bombarded you already with a slide show...

But this one goes beyond the cute.

This one shares the heart of the retreat.

I have to say God has a great variety of girls. From all walks of life. All colors of skin. All with the same heart condition before we met Him.

And then...we meet HIM. The One who gave all, IS all, and loves us all!

I have lots of emotion that surfaces when I watch this slide show. Every single time. While I didn't know what to expect, God did. He knew WHO was coming because He selected them.

I want to thank Marsha, Susan and Aimee for listening to me carry on ---over and over about my vision--thoughts and ideas. They put up with me and didn't complain one single time....at least to me :) This could have been done without any of us...but we wouldn't have had the joy and tears that flow freely as we now can look back over the months of preparations! God is awesome to have invited us into His vision for us!

I would like to thank Juno, Aimee's husband and pastor of Sneads Assembly of God Church, for graciously allowing us to host the retreat from their location. We enjoyed the sanctuary, The Green Frog Cafe` (Aimee's creation), the Prayer Room (Susan's creation, inspired by God) and the shopping district! Juno and Valaree, along with Becky, our worship leader tag teamed with the power point presentations! Awesome job y'all!

We also enjoyed the fellowship and enormous assistance of two of their sweet sisters...Janice Lambert and Mary Hightower! Girls, you have rocked my world with sweetness!

Becky Knight (beckyknight.com) did an outstanding job in leading us to the throne of God in worship! Thank you darlin'!

Each speaker laid it out there --clearly--for us to understand and benefit from their knowledge in the Word and their field of expertise! Girls, y'all are the bomb!

The Holy Spirit moved in such a way, not a heart left untouched! More on that later!!

One last thank you. But this one is most important. Thank you to my darling man. I also refer to him as "Sweet Man", for that is exactly what he is. He made 7 cakes y'all. 7. Peanut Butter, Butternut, German Chocolate, and Red Velvet. Everyone of them devoured. We took home a piece or two of 2...the others...well...I guess someone ate it up!

I thank him for his love and support through all of this. And every time I said the dreaded words, "hey! I have an idea"...he refrained (somehow) from his normal come back of, "ooooohhhhh Loooorrrrdddd". Knowing that almost every idea I get, somehow will involve him. A can of paint, possibly the pressure washer, and usually the hammer. How could I not love this man! Thank you Jeff. You are my one and only.

If God whispers something in your heart, something that seems impossible, or perhaps might even seem ridiculous to the average person, but you KNOW in your heart, if obeyed could change someone's life, especially yours, Do it. (Sorry, Tiff-I know that was a way too long sentence!)

Do whatever it takes on your part to fulfill what God has called you to do. No matter what it costs you, I promise, you will not be sorry. You will bubble over with the unexpected joy that will pour forth! Your tired bones will be REVIVED!


There is more to come...something from my heart to every speaker...Mary Snyder, Connie Haile, Lisa Shaw, Marsha Harwood, Tiffany Stuart, Lynn Donovan, Joanne Kraft and Alecia Corbin. That will be a separate post. You girls have no idea what you have done in my life. AND the lives of each lady. I have received private e-mails of the things you said that triggered a response in their hearts and lives...and good changes are coming. ALL because you obeyed the voice of God when preparing your messages.

I can't thank you enough! We are on the brink of something awesome! I can't wait to see what God does next year!!! Oh my! How will I ever stand it!

Much planning to begin soon!!!


Fully Trusting Him,

How We Do Retreats…

A decision is made. WE NEED TO GET AWAY!

We call each other and find out who has what---when. (If you understood that sentence---you might be one of us!)

Then we set a weekend! We call again to confirm that NO ONE has anything to hinder—and assure one another that whatever comes up can be handled!

We then make plans.

We decide on the “where”.

We find out how much it’s going to cost to rent the facility.

We divide the cost of the house, cabin or condo between each of us. Then we share in the cost of gas and food.

There are a lot of “we’s” in the above statements---but it is a combined effort all the way around! (As for the co0kies being snatched…see---it’s combined---Aunt Evielean bakes…we EAT!)

I wish I could say we drew straws or said ennie-minnie-miney-moe to decide who drives…but no matter who’s vehicle is used…I drive. Not my choice. But it’s okay. I have learned that I am either in the driver’s seat…or I am the vehicular “ONSTAR”. (Aimee named me that after our She Speaks Conference---she drove---but I HAD to be the OnStar :) to watch for the signs…of the times…you know. We went through Atlanta. Remember??

We make SURE the snacks are well within reach for munching while traveling! We have our Bibles in hand (well, all except me—I have the steering wheel in hand), and whatever book we might be reading.

There is great music ready to go (sort of like the Jack Nicholson movie, “As Good As It Gets”…sometimes we make our own CD from a compilation of the Worship songs we all enjoy! (I made everyone a CD last year to take home.)

We load up, join hands and pray, and take off!

We generally have the trip planned, however, we have been known to stop at an interesting looking Flea Market, Thrift Store, or Antique Store on the spur of the moment. These are great adventures!

We eat out when we need to—but generally, we take food to cook for our dinner meal, or go to the grocery store. Usually we have a cook crew and clean up crew. Aimee calls it the “Butler System”.

I wish you could hear her…actually, I may talk her into demonstrating this process in an upcoming video commercial for the Bloggers Retreat!

After the “Butler” (Aimee pronounces it “But-la”) does the cleaning up, we get ourselves ready for bed.

But bedtime will be a few hours yet. It’s just more relaxing to us to read and sing in our p.j.’s and robes. Not all restaurants allow this.

We gather in the living room, around the fireplace (it was very cool weather at night during this retreat), and with the worship music playing softly in the back ground, we start our sharing.

Jesus is shared---talked about, worshiped and sang to. We sing old songs and new ones.

We have a Bible Study session—many times impromptu –and I can tell you those are AWESOME lessons! We share stories of faith and perseverance and testimonies from our own lives, AND we have an incredible time of prayer for one another. Usually around midnight we shuffle off to bed.... :)

The above pictures was from the retreat of 2007. It was the last Sister's Retreat Wanda joined us on.

Today, she is already enjoying the next retreat---

An incredible journey to heaven!

This collage was made by Susan, a dear sister of faith. She attended the Retreat of 2008. It was a blessed one.

Aimee and I spent weeks planning, praying and getting everything together. We wanted many things to be a surprise for our “adopted sisters”. We surprised them with PURPLE bags---full of surprises! That was fun!

I believe they had a good time. I know that Aimee and I enjoyed ourselves! God was indeed present! And He was so good!

Before we left on this retreat to North Georgia, I felt the strong desire to share my love for Jesus to many women who may have never had the experience of the love of a sister. I can tell you there is nothing like it! You don’t even have to be REAL life sisters to enjoy the fellowship of sisterhood!

This group pictured above are not all related. Not by birth---oh, there are a few of us, but there are those who are simply sisters by choice. Not birth.

I invite you to join us on the Bloggers Retreat 2009!! You will have a GREAT time!

Be a sister by choice!!

See you here!

Angie

Retreat News Flash!

The Bloggers Retreat information has been relocated!

You will find it all here:  Free To Be Me Bloggers Retreat! 

Click on the link and join in the retreat!

We look forward to seeing you there!

Angie & Aimee!