Love Retreat!

This past weekend Ladies Night Out had their first retreat!  We took 17 girls to a beautiful house on Portage Lakes. It was fun to see the responses of the girls as they walked through the house and called dibs on bedrooms. The girls shouted, “This is the nicest house I have ever seen” “I want to live here!” “Can we come here every weekend?”

With Valentine’s Day in mind the weekend was focused around the idea of, “How do we love ourselves, family, friends and boys.” I was pleasantly surprised how interactive they were. The girls had the ability to hear the gospel!  I was able to talk to them about 1 John 4:19 which says, “We love because he first loved us.” The leaders had the opportunity to be vulnerable and tell the girls their testimonies and how God has changed their lives. It was amazing!! It was beautiful to see the girls asking follow up questions. I am excited see how God uses this past weekend for His glory.

In all honesty this weekend wasn’t all smiles and joys! Lindsey* is one of my tougher student, but holds such a soft spot in my heart. I have had the privilege of seeing God transform Lindsey’s life so much in the last year. Within the first two hours of the trip she was breaking our no electronics rule. We took away her cell phone and mp3 player. For about the next 5 hours Lindsey was very angry. Giving an attitude to the leaders and the girls around her. It reached a breaking point and she started screaming at me.  As she was screaming I tried to remain calm and responded with, “Lindsey, I know that you aren’t this angry about us taking away your cellphone. What is going on in your life to make you this angry?” She then broke down and started to crying. We had an honest conversation about how home was extremely rough for her right now. She is angry at her mother and actually has been kicked out of her house multiple times this year. She has been staying at family member’s houses and hotels. It was crazy how after our conversation Lindsey did a complete turn around. She was helping the younger girls with their hair, engaging with leaders, and was an overall pleasant person to be around. I am thankful that God continues to break down her heart and transform her to look more like Christ. Although it is hard she is growing and learning.