The Breakaway

You've all probably wondered where I've gone. Well, I've been home just not on the computer. This past week and a half I have been wiped out. I basically came down with a cold on Saturday April 25th, and probably because it rode on the coat tails of the women's retreat, it zapped all of my energy...so much so, that I didn't even want to sit at my computer. I started feeling a little better then different symptoms arose so I don't know if the virus was getting a second wind or if I got a totally different one.


So much has gone on in my life and I hope that I can share it, but I'll start with the "Women's Breakaway".


Our church's women's retreat was set in the beautiful Rocky Mountains at the YMCA of Estes Park. The first two days were clear and beautiful, a little cool but a hoodie was sufficient to keep me warm. The third day it was cloudy and it rained and snowed off and on.


To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to this weekend in the beginning. I wouldn't have gone except that I was asked to share and God told me to go. (Trust me, when I was praying about speaking I let God know that I DID NOT want to do it!) But even after I knew that God had called me to go and share, I still had a bad attitude.


Then I got a "talking to" by God. It wasn't really a "slap in face" kind of thing, but closer to the "let's sit and talk" type of thing. He basically said, "Julie, look at your attitude. This is something that I called you to do and this is a chance to see how I work." And trust me, it took a miracle just for me to get up and talk in front of a group of women! After that soft convicting in my spirit, by the Spirit, my attitude changed. I was excited to go and see how God was going to work, and to have a weekend away to enjoy other women in our church.


The theme of the weekend was "No Fear". Fear has been a huge struggle of mine and God keeps refining me in this area of my life. He must have decided that I've progressed or learned enough that I can share with others. For several months my prayers have been that every woman there who's in the stronghold, or in that grip of fear, that they be set free in such a profound way, that they never again are motivated by fear or let fear exercise authority over them.


I have no idea how the women there walked away from the weekend. Did anything I say "speak" to the heart of the women there? I don' know. But I have to believe, because God called me to it, because much prayer went into what I was to share, God has plans to use it in the lives of those women.


Here's a few pic's of the weekend.

Some of the view we saw. I saw dozens of elk and deer over the weekend. In the second picture you can see that the elk just came right up in the "campus" area. The building behind the elk is the swimming pool.




The building we used for our main sessions and some classes.



Some of the ladies. We enjoyed a campfire and smores on Friday night. That night the women were to write down their fears and prayers and throw them in the fire with some incense as a physical act of giving things to God. Then there was impromptu sharing of some struggles and fears. The last couple of pictures are some of the ladies making beaded bookmarks and then Marty and I being goofy.

P.S. When I got home I saw that Kaylie's nose was still running and she just sounded sick. I then told her that my throat hurt and I didn't feel good. She excitedly said, "We both have a freeze!"