10

Women’s Retreat

The 5^th Annual Women’s Retreat took place on March 8^th at the Buena Vista Conference Center near New Castle.   Twenty –six women were registered and 24 were able to attend. 

I want to thank everyone who participated for contributing to both the lively conversation and the sense of reflection and renewal that all of us experienced. 

In particular, I want to thank Mary Beth Bergstrom, Olive Barton, Jenny Pederson, Virginia Frattarola, and Karen Larson for all their help in the planning and organizing of the retreat.  We all wish to thank Pastor Greg Eidell for leading us in devotions with communion at the end of our day and for being such an enthusiastic cheer-leader for the women’s retreat. 

Having been involved with the planning from the beginning, I found this retreat to be particularly meaningful to me.  I want to thank all of our presenters who put so much time into creating wonderful sessions:

· Virginia Frattarola for a very meaningful session on prayer and preparing the prayer pillows and journals for us to “finish;”

· Jenny Pederson for her insight and assistance with our session on Katie Luther (we all learned so many more reasons to admire Katie);

· Amanda Jacobson for leading us with her guitar in our morning devotions and helping us stretch and feel renewed with yoga;

· Karen Larson for a lovely session on  discovering Mary and helping us realize her importance to all Christian women; and

· Melissa Blauvelt (our former LSA member) for providing such useful information about international adoptions and the needs of so many children throughout the world. 

Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised (but I always am) by the way in which the Spirit works within our human plans to create a richer and more meaningful event for all of us.  We also thank Donna Feldman for leading us in a lovely grace before lunch!

From the feedback and our own experiences, I believe the Buena Vista will be the site for our retreat next year. Mark your calendars for the Saturday around the 9-10th of March and look for other fellowship opportunities in the near future. 

(Chris Ebert)

…the Spirit works within our human plans to create a richer and more meaningful event for all of us.