photo: Martha G. Brady

We met together in Mt. Juliet, TN at the lakehouse. There were about 20 of us. Few of us knew each other before that weekend. All we had in common was FiveMinuteFriday…and a love for Jesus.

We were moms, grandmoms, singles, single moms, adoptive moms, some through fostering, and of course some of us were empty nesters.

One mom is still nursing so Happy Haven joined us. What a sweet disposition! We all enjoyed her. She is the third in her family and mellow and happy. She was a fun addition to the group.

The theme of fear and brave for devotions

In terms of speakers. Our devotions revolved around fear.

• Fear-presented by Kate Motaung (finally learned how to pronounce her last name!)…the kind keeps us from doing what we know GOD has called us to do no matter how “humble” the reason, or that keeps us from doing the right thing. (where the Spirit of GOD is not present),
• Fear of Man-presented by Trillia Newbell, author of Fear and Faith who drove through the fog that morning from Franklin, TN to share with us. She talked about Fear of Man. Delightful and challenging!
• Brave…as in getting-out-of-the-boat kind of brave found in the early part of Peter’s story with Jesus. This was presented by Mary Geisen.

Each one was helpful and stimulating in its own way. I have been aware of the need to deal with fear in my own life for many, many years. Dealing with fear of man has probably been something I’ve been dealing with for 20-ish years. All of them lead to working on bravery and courage in the context of Can I truly trust GOD in this new area? but I think the one on Brave was especially pointed for me. It is always good at the end of a retreat. Am I going to sit on all this truth/information? Or am I going to take the first steps and do something to move in a new direction that is scary?

Video conferences with Ann, Charity and Dan were very stimulating

photo: Martha G. Brady

We also had some great video conferences. The two authors of a book on the writing life: On Being a Writer were excellent! Their names are Ann Kroeker and Charity Singleton Craig. I’m anxious to follow that up with Kate Motaung’s study of this book that starts on Monday. It will be great…very practical and down to earth!

The other video conference was with Dan King. He is from FistBump Media. We each had a 1/2 hour consult with him before the conference that was very helpful. He is overflowing with helpful, practical ideas.

I hope to be able to use some of his services soon. He was able to help me see hope for some ways to earn money doing what I’m doing and that is very encouraging for sure! His mission is to manage the technical side of blogging/ebooks for writers so they don’t have to be bothered with it. I love that! It is the miserable side of blogging for sure.

ViBella and the mission they serve to help poor women

I also can’t forget the fun we had with Amy Breitmann from ViBella. I’ll tell you more about it soon, but it is an organization that has helped bring work to women in Haiti, Mexico, and the midwest. They make jewelry and are paid well but they also receive medical care for their families as well as education for their children. It makes the difference between their being about to have a decent job or working on the streets.

I enjoyed hearing about this group and the things they do for women. Cutting up jeans, trying on jewelry, looking at catalogues just added fun to the weekend!

Much of the weekend included conversation.

Photo: Martha G. Brady

Of course, one of the best aspects of the weekend was conversation! We had lots of time for that. With conversation came lots of laughter! Lots:) When a group of ladies gets together, it always seems to happen. It was fun as we laughed…tears too, and shared parts of our stories with each other.

That is where we find those with whom we have much in common! We sat and chatted and often were drawn to some of the same women because of similar experiences.

It was a wonderful weekend. Despite some flat tires, traffic jams and stormy weather, we all made it there and home again.

Now what? Stepping out of the boat will look different for each of us.

Now, the work starts! What will change? That remains to be seen.

May the grace of GOD be with us all as we “get out of the boat” and trust GOD to overcome our fear of man, our tendency to compare, our fear of failing or sinking…and move ahead with the work He has for us to do!

Courage dear sisters!