Passionate

A few weekends ago I attended a women's retreat. This is the same retreat I went to last year when I was almost 3 months pregnant. This year's theme was "Passionate for God's Presence." What wonderful timing! I've been struggling with the monotony of every day life. I love being a wife and mother, but I was struggling having joy and passion about God and what He is doing in Jarabacoa. As I anticipated the retreat, I was excited, but also a little nervous about how much I would be able to really relax having Jeremiah with me.

On Friday, Daniel dropped me off with Jeremiah and Karen (a mother of 2 and a teacher at JCS, who roomed with me at the retreat). It turned out that this year, Jeremiah was the only baby there (they allow nursing babies). The evening's theme was "acknowleding His glory." Each "session" consists of four main components: worship, teaching time, personal reflection, and small group time. They keep the teaching time short to ensure lots of personal reflection (one of my favorite parts of the retreat!). There were three other sessions that weekend (Saturday morning and evening, and Sunday morning). Their themes were: "valueing God above all things", "remembering what God has done", and "making His glory known". Thanks to my wonderful husband who picked Jeremiah up Saturday morning and brought him back for feedings, I was able to have baby-free time to focus on the teaching and listening to God.

Over the next few weeks, I want to share what God taught me from each session, and how He is continuing to teach me. This will hopefull encourage you and further ingrain it in my hear.



For now, here are some highlights from the weekend:

-Refreshing individual time listening to God and reflecting on His Word

-Great praise time in English and Spanish

-Great fellowship with other women (it's so nice after living with all boys and tutoring all boys!)

-Fun talking and laughing time with other women

-Relaxing break Saturday afternoon to rest, make jewelry (supplied by the retreat), and talk

-Lots of good Dominican food!

-Not needing to make food

-Not needing to do dishes

-Meeting new people from around the island