Sweet Time Away from Camp

Last night I returned home after making a trip to Snyder for my Grandma's 91st Birthday. It was so good to be at Grandma's again. I haven't been to Snyder since January when I went for Christmas. I think this has been the longest I have been away from Snyder.

While I was making a trip to Grandma's my new found friend Sheila (who is a beautiful example of how the Lord is able to turn the ashes of our lives into beauty) met with me in Sweetwater. Sheila is the person who is helping me with the retreat we are working to develop for Ceta Canyon. Her and I met for about 3 1/2 hours and visited, got to know each other, planned, outlined, and shared our thoughts and ideas. She was such an encouragement for me and I felt so relieved when we finished our visit together. I really felt like we were able to bring all our thoughts together and accomplished something. There is still a lot to do but it was a good and sweet time for me. We came up with a goal and purpose for the retreat, dates to consider, a schedule for the retreat, a theme as far as what we will be teaching, and so much more. The Lord is really working to bring this all together. We have been praying and seeking His wisdom and guidance as we work through the planning. We have talked to different friends/family to gain insight and thoughts from them. As we talked yesterday everything seemed to start coming together. I have been so overwhelmed lately wondering how this retreat would ever come to pass with all the changes here at camp, and the busy season just around the corner. Then the Lord reminded me of something I have prayed for one of my friends many times it is Psalm 61:1-2:

"Hear my cry, O God, attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto you, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the Rock that is higher than I."

I realize and know that the only way this retreat will happen is if God wills for it to happened. Before meeting with Sheila this was my prayer. After all was said and done I believe that I was lead to that Rock who is higher than me. I am not feeling overwhelmed by this now. The Lord provided a vision a year ago and in His good timing He really is working it out. It will be awesome to see what will occur. There are still changes that could be made so I am not going to post anything definite but I will post more details over the next couple of months. Hopefully by the end of May. I will say that our goal as far as dates are concerned is mid October to mid November and it will be from Friday evening to Sunday around noon. There are still so many details to work through though.

Prayer Needs for Retreat:
godly wisdom and guidance throughout this process of planning
counselors to help with small groups
that the retreat will be affordable
pray for those that the Lord brings to the retreat(He already knows who will be there)
unfinished planning

Now to why I went to Snyder. :)

My Grandma's birthday was yesterday and it was such a wonderful day. She is one very popular lady. Her phone started ringing early and continued till we left for her birthday lunch. My Grandma is such a precious woman with so much love and care to offer. I pray that as I grow older that I would grow old gracefully as she has. She turned 91 years old and looked at it with joy. I am about to turn 30 years old and this is a hard age transition for me. This is the first birthday I have dreaded. I look at my Grandma and she was so thankful for another year.

My Grandma has taught me so much over the last 10 years but the one thing that stands out the most that I feel so thankful for that she has passed down to me is the ability to quilt. I am not a pro like her by any means and she couldn't teach me everything due to partial loss of her sight but what she was able to teach me I am thankful. She has taught me to use my hands well. She passed on a legacy and as she has said I was rightly named (I was named after her). I pray that I too will pass on one day what my precious Grandma has taught me. She truly is a virtuous woman (Prov. 31:10-31) and I feel very blessed to have gotten to know her and have the time that I have had with her over the last 30 years of my life. I pray that one day I will be worthy in Christ to be called virtuous. One of my greatest desires is to be a virtuous woman.

Thank you Grandma for all you do! I really do love you and cherish you!