The 2019 Flourish Women’s Retreat at Maranatha Bible Camp & Retreat Center ended up falling right in the middle of the transition from my office job back to babysitting. I was even busier than normal and in desperate need of some down-time, though I didn’t necessarily want it. I’m realizing that for a long time I’ve used busyness as a way to cope with (or maybe numb out?) some of the painful things in life. Slowing down gives me too much time to think and to feel, but God knows I need it. I played piano for the worship team with our church intern and her mom at the retreat, so the weekend wasn’t entirely void of responsibility, but I think God was using it as a gradual baby step of slowing me down before the complete pause that will come with my big surgery next month. Maybe tapping on the breaks a little bit now will help prevent the emotional whiplash I experienced with my last surgery. Anyway, I went into the weekend both expectant of rejuvenation but also apprehensive of the potential for bursting floodgates of repressed emotion.
After the Friday afternoon worship practice, the conference registration brought with it several familiar faces from different places and stages of my life. They came from Sterling Berean – the church I grew up in, Mitchell Berean – the church we attended when we lived in Scottsbluff, and of course The Crossing – our church family in Gothenburg. A few other pastor’s wives I know also attended, even though they had already been at Maranatha at least one, if not two, other weekends in February. I’m not at all a social butterfly, but throughout the weekend I tried to be intentional about visiting with different people, and I enjoyed getting to meet some new people as well. I had a hotel-style room to myself, which was awesome when I needed some time to retreat, process, and be alone.
The speaker, Robyn Dykstra, was phenomenal. She was incredibly engaging and very obviously grounded in the Word of God. Her story-telling and interactive style had us all on the edge of our seats – crying, then laughing, then nodding in mutual understanding, and back again. In the first session, she shared her own incredible story while also emphasizing the promises of God (if you are curious about her story, check out her book, The Widow Wore Pink: A True Story of Life After Loss and the Transforming Power of a Loving God). On Saturday, she delved into the topics of prayer and learning to recognize our worth according to Christ so that we can then be authentically and freely involved in Christian community. On Sunday morning, she wrapped up with the topic of using our relationship with God to impact others, particularly by listening to and obeying the prompts of the Holy Spirit. This last session was probably the most challenging for me. I have a lot of the Bible knowledge, and I’ve known Jesus for a long time, but I still ignore or outright say no to the nudging of the Holy Spirit far more often than I’d like to admit.
Each teaching session was accompanied by four songs: three before the teaching and one afterwards. Ellie (our intern) did an excellent job choosing set lists and leading the time of worship through music. It was her first time leading worship in a setting like that (she has led at our church for Sunday mornings several times throughout her internship). She was sensitive to the needs of the moment; for example, she dropped one song to instead sing “Who You Say I Am” after the session that focused on our worth and position in Christ. Ellie, her mom, and I meshed well together as a team, and it was fun getting to lead together. It was an honor to be a part of providing the music to help the women there focus on who God is and on the truth of His Word.
The weekend provided a chance to escape the clutter, distraction, and weight of daily living while also being immersed in God’s Word and God’s people. While we did have the scheduled session times, we were also given a lot of flexibility and freedom to do what we needed to do to “get away, quiet down, and hear God speak” (Maranatha’s motto). We had a time specifically set aside to go be alone with God and process the teaching we had been hearing. Saturday afternoon was entirely discretionary, though they offered an “Afternoon of Adventure” so that there was little chance of ever getting bored unless you just wanted to be bored. The “Afternoon of Adventure” consisted of various activities offered each hour that included everything from rock wall climbing and clay shooting to Bible journaling and painting to hair and makeup demonstrations and bath bomb making. Maranatha always offers plenty to do while allowing attendees the freedom to skip and take a nap or do something entirely on their own if needed. We also had a movie night, a banquet, and the surprise of having little gifts waiting on our tables for each session (including a beautiful journal that was given the first night).
The food was wonderful (and not just because I didn’t have to cook it or wash the dishes)! We had high quality, hearty breakfasts, soups, salads, sandwiches, and sides. We also had beef stroganoff for one meal. The banquet on Saturday night started off with spinach puffs and stuffed mushrooms for appetizers along with three choices of mocktails. Then we moved along to some kind of glorious caprese-type chicken with bacon-wrapped asparagus, pasta, and salad. To top it all off, we finished with the option of a parfait-style cherry cheesecake or a parfait-style smores dessert. Of course, the coffee shop was open several times throughout the weekend as well.
When all was said and done, I came away re-charged (even though I stayed up too late during the retreat) and ready to dive into youth group on Sunday night (which is certainly not always the case on Sunday nights). I fell apart emotionally a couple times over the weekend as I continued to wrestle with God on some different things, and I didn’t get that emotional “camp high” that sometimes occurs (which isn’t the goal anyway). However, I came away reminded of who God is and who I am, of the support system I have had through the different phases of life thus far, and of my purpose and calling that can only be carried out by listening to the Holy Spirit when He tugs at my heart. Maranatha has been such a blessing to me ever since my first experience there at AWANA camp in fifth grade. There is no doubt in my mind that God uses it to shape people and bring about His purposes in their lives. If you ever get the chance to go to a retreat there, take it!
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