The Lord has once again been faithful to hear and answer the prayers of His people! We are grateful to report that the recent Dallas MQ retreat went extremely well and was a blessing to many - including us!
Out of the 202 expected registered attendees, all but one came to the retreat! (And we even had a few unexpected guests show up!) This is an incredible percentage, proving once again that the Lord had the very young ladies/mothers hand-picked that HE wanted at the conference. :-) We found this group to be a delightful crowd! They were friendly, grateful, receptive people with whom we experienced an instant rapport.
Everything about the retreat flowed smoothly from start to finish - even with a small fire mishap thrown in the mix! (A bit of toole in one of the centerpieces accidentally caught on fire from a small tea light, but ended up creating more mess than danger.) This smooth flow was truly an answer to prayer from the Lord, especially during the banquet, considering that we had 22 casseroles to thoroughly heat in ovens/warmers spread out throughout the 4-story church building. :) Thankfully, after our arrival in Dallas on Thursday afternoon, my mom took over as banquet coordinator, and with all her past experience, she was the perfect person for over-seeing this massive endeavor! Miraculously, by God's grace and a healthy dose of creativity, everything came together beautifully.
220 white satin chair covers were once again donated for our use from our sweet friends in Baytown. The Riddells hauled these up to Dallas - and oh! did they ever transform an ordinary eating room into an elegant banquet hall! What an extra blessing from the Lord these chair covers were!
God answered so many prayers to make this retreat possible. He gave us all safety on the road, zero technical difficulties, great peace of mind during our speaking times and smooth flow of speech (unlike the last retreat during which I was fighting a constant feeling of scatter-brained thoughts and unconnected sentances), provision of wonderful elective session teachers, and many other countless blessings!
Most importantly, the girls who attended thoroughly enjoyed the retreat and expressed over and over how encouraged they were in their spiritual lives! Many moms in the crowd also took the time to tell us how grateful they were for the event and for the opportunity their daughters had to hear many of the same lessons/principles they've been taught growing up but from a different perspective. They were excited to see their daughters really listening and genuinely engaged during all the messages. This was a real answer to prayer! For many of the girls there, the retreat seemed to give them renewed courage to stand alone in convictions and decisions that are so counter-culture. It was encouraging for them to know they aren't really alone in the pursuit of surrendered Christianity and virtuous womanhood, but that hundreds of other young ladies join them on the quest for God's best all across the city, state, and nation! Amen.
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