The Retreat

I had been looking forward to October 13 - the date for our annual Retreat for our Sunday School class, so when yesterday 9:00 a.m. came around - I was ready!  I attended this retreat for the first time last year, and had a wonderful time, so I was greatly anticipating another good experience - and I wasn't let down.  There were 16 ladies attending, all ages (of course I am the oldest), and we met in the Octogan - which is a room in our church that is shaped like an octogan (go figure). 

The day started with each woman telling a little of her life story, except for two ladies who did not yet feel comfortable sharing.  We all come from different walks in life and have had many different experiences, many difficulties and tragedies.  The sharing of these stories bonds us together in love.  I have never been in a church-related group where there is so much honesty, and I love it.  I have shared experiences with this group that I have not shared with other friends, and it's easy to share because each one of these ladies has had an imperfect life and consequently there is no judgment.  It was especially heartwarming to see the spiritual growth in some of the young women - comparing their last year's stories with this year's stories. 

We enjoying fellowshiping over a delicious lunch provided by two of the ladies, and then we watched a video presentation about "roots of bitterness and expectancies".  The video was well done, and presented a lot of material for discussion.  We all left for home after 5 pm, quite tired, but all agreeing that it was a wonderful day.  This morning in our Sunday School class, we continued the discussions from yesterday; there is just such a close bond among our group, a feeling of love and acceptance from each person for each person.  In my experience, this has been rare in church circles.