Two weeks ago, 120 young ladies and their mothers gathered at North Belt Baptist Church for a delightful weekend together! The Lord was at work in many hearts and lives - my own especially. He used the whole experience to humble me, strip me of all self-confidence, and teach me to yield my definition of success and perfection to His definitions instead.
There were several glitches throughout the retreat this time such as PowerPoint presentations being messed up, miscommunications, last-minute tasks cropping up right and left, cleaning crews not arriving, being locked out of the building on Saturday morning right up until the time we were supposed to start, etc. Despite these trials, however, the retreat flowed right along and the 120 mothers and daughters seemed to be enjoying it all tremendously.
Many attendees told us how refreshing it was to be hearing messages that were infused with the Word of God and constantly pointing back to the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were hungry for this! This was a goal Tara and I had established going into the conference, so to hear such feedback was exhilarating! Jesus truly is the answer to everything! He is the foundation upon which every encouragement, admonishment, and principle should be based...and we so desperately longed for the attention of our audience to be pointed to Him. What a blessing it was to hear testimony of God's answer to this prayer.
An alumni attendee, age 20, who actually ended up serving as a helper behind the scenes during the whole conference rededicated her life to the Lord in wholehearted commitment to Him after hearing the closing message of the retreat (the only session she got to sit in for!).
Another alumni girl came with some serious battles raging in her soul. She has amazing potential to be used mightily by the Lord as a radiant young lady and Satan knows it. He has been fighting her a lot lately. She came to the retreat with a crumbling defense and some painful battle wounds. Throughout the two days, she often came up to me or Tara and either burst into tears under conviction of the Holy Spirit, or peppered us with pointed questions about struggles she was encountering. I am thrilled to report that the Lord did a tremendous work in her heart this weekend, bringing her to a point of brokennes and repentance over various sins in her life and giving her the resolve to live for Him no matter what. One huge step of victory for her is that she committed to telling her parents of a secret sin she's been hiding from them. She eagerly agreed to let me be an accountability partner for her and we made arrangments to talk and pray on the phone together weekly.
One attendee shared with us that for several weeks, she has been planning on joining the Marines in the near future. However, during the retreat, God conivcted her that such a plan was not in line with His design for women (and we never mentioned one thing about women in the military!). She experienced a new appreciation for being made a girl and resolved to cultivate a delight in femininity. She told us that rather than join the Marines, she is excited to begin preparing herself with the skills necessary for being a wife, mother, and homemaker one day.
For a group of 3 sisters whose family is involved with intensive inner city ministry, the retreat provided a weekend of spiritual rest and renewal that they said they were greatly in need of. As we all know, there are times when we get weary in fighting the good fight and constantly pouring out to others. Their love for the Lord and wholehearted commitment to Him was readily evident; it was such a blessing to know that God used this event as a time to raise up their hands and encourage their hearts.
For many girls, the retreat brought them face to face with the truths of God's Word and the choices involved with wholehearted obedience. Our prayer for these maidens and mothers is that the Holy Spirit would continually draw them and woo them away from the watered-down version of Christianity they may be living into the depths of a tight-knit love relationship with Jesus Christ. No sacrifice is too great to make for Him who gave up all for us!
We are so grateful for each of you joining with us as prayer partners in this ministry! Your time spent interceding for us means a great deal. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
~ Katrina
Katelin, Rhonda, and Cara labor over the hundreds of prepartions that go into Katelin's hand-made card making elective class. In this picture, they are tracing, cutting, and ribbon tying for one of the six card kits Katelin prepares ahead of time.
On another day, Hannah, Mom, Katelin, and Cara diligently stuff 200 folders with handouts and certificates!
Smile for the camera!
Rainey, Mom, and Kelsey tie ribbons around question scrolls for the banquet
Folders stuffed and ready to go...
